Shloka 236
अजिशीर्षे प्रातःसंध्यायां संग्रामवर्णनम् / Dawn-Transition Battle at Ajiśīrṣa
Chapter 161
युध्यस्व सहितोस्माभिवर्दुरात्मन् पुरुषाधम । “कहाँ कर्ण है? यह कर्ण है। दुरात्मन् नराधम कर्ण! इस महायुद्धमें खड़ा रह और हमारे साथ युद्ध कर”
yudhyasva sahito 'smābhir durātman puruṣādhama | “kahām karṇaḥ? eṣa karṇaḥ. durātman narādhama karṇa! asmin mahāyuddhe sthito bhava ca asmābhiḥ saha yudhyasva” ||
“Bertempurlah bersama kami, wahai durjana, yang paling hina di antara manusia. ‘Di mana Karṇa?’—‘Inilah Karṇa.’ Wahai Karṇa yang keji dan rendah! Berdirilah teguh dalam perang besar ini dan bertempurlah bersama kami.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war-speech often mixes a call to courage and steadfastness with moral condemnation of the enemy. It shows the ethical tension in epic warfare: valor and firmness are demanded, yet the opponent is dehumanized through abusive epithets, revealing the corrosive rhetoric that accompanies adharma-driven conflict.
Sanjaya reports a battlefield taunt and challenge directed at Karna: he is pointed out (“Here is Karna”) and commanded to stand in the great war and fight together with the speaker’s side. The line functions as a provocation meant to draw Karna into direct engagement and to shame him into remaining in the fight.