Shloka 20
ऋषिसमागमः — युधिष्ठिरस्य शोकवर्णनम्
Sage Assembly and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Articulation of Grief
आश्रयो धार्तराष्ट्राणां मानी तीक्षणपराक्रम: । अमर्षी नित्यसंरम्भी क्षेप्तास्माकं रणे रणे
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | āśrayo dhārtarāṣṭrāṇāṁ mānī tīkṣṇaparākramaḥ | amarṣī nityasaṁrambhī kṣeptāsmākaṁ raṇe raṇe |
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «Il fut le principal appui des fils de Dhṛtarāṣṭra—orgueilleux, d’une prouesse tranchante comme un rasoir, incapable de souffrir l’affront et toujours prompt à s’emporter. Bataille après bataille, il nous assaillait, lançant tout ensemble les armes et les paroles qui coupent. Ce guerrier, sans égal dans le monde et lion sur le champ, est dit être notre aîné—le fils de Kuntī, né en secret : Karṇa.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how unchecked pride and perpetual anger can make a person formidable yet ethically dangerous; it also frames Karṇa’s power within a tragic moral context—his loyalty to the Kauravas and hostility toward his own brothers complicate simple judgments of virtue and vice.
Yudhiṣṭhira is describing Karṇa as the chief pillar of the Kauravas—proud, fierce, and constantly aggressive toward the Pāṇḍavas in every conflict—while acknowledging the painful report that Karṇa is actually their elder brother, Kuntī’s son born in secrecy.