Shloka 2
Aśvatthāman’s Arrow-Screen and the Confrontation with Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रौणि–युधिष्ठिर-संग्रामः)
कर्ण उवाच गुणान् गुणवतां शल्य गुणवान् वेत्ति नागुण: । त्वं तु शल्य गुणैहीन: कि ज्ञास्यसि गुणागुणम्,कर्णने कहा--शल्य! गुणवान् पुरुषोंके गुणोंको गुणवान् ही जानता है, गुणहीन नहीं। तुम तो समस्त गुणोंसे शून्य हो; फिर गुण-अवगुण क्या समझोगे?
karṇa uvāca
guṇān guṇavatāṁ śalya guṇavān vetti nāguṇaḥ |
tvaṁ tu śalya guṇair hīnaḥ kiṁ jñāsyasi guṇāguṇam ||
Dijo Karna: «Oh Śalya, sólo un hombre de mérito reconoce de veras los méritos de los meritorios; quien carece de mérito no los conoce. Pero tú, Śalya, estás vacío de virtudes: ¿cómo podrías discernir qué es virtud y qué es falta?»
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts an ethical principle: discernment of virtue (guṇa) requires inner cultivation; a person lacking virtues is portrayed as unfit to judge virtue and fault in others.
In the Karṇa–Śalya exchange during the war context, Karṇa rebukes Śalya, accusing him of being devoid of virtues and therefore incapable of evaluating the merits and faults of worthy people—an escalation in their verbal conflict.