Shloka 13

Devanagari script

शक्तिहस्तं पुनः: कर्ण को लोके5स्ति पुमानिह । य एनमभितस्तिछेत्‌ कार्तिकेयमिवाहवे,इस संसारमें कौन ऐसा पुरुष है, जो युद्धस्थलमें कार्तिकेयके समान शक्तिशाली कर्णके सामने खड़ा हो सके

Transliteration

śaktihastaṃ punaḥ karṇa ko loke 'sti pumān iha | ya enam abhitastiṣṭhet kārtikeyam ivāhave ||

Translation

Sekali lagi, siapakah di dunia ini—manusia mana—yang sanggup berdiri menghadapi Karṇa ketika ia menggenggam śakti di tangannya? Di medan laga ia laksana Kārtikeya sendiri.

Word by Word

शक्तिहस्तम्him whose hand holds a spear (spear-in-hand)

पुनःagain, moreover

कर्णम्Karna

कःwho?

लोकेin the world

अस्तिis/exists

पुमान्a man

इहhere

यःwho (such that he)

एनम्him (this one)

अभितःin front of, towards, facing

तिष्ठेत्could stand

कार्तिकेयम्Kartikeya (Skanda)

इवlike, as

आहवेin battle

Speaker

श्रीवायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyu (Vāyudeva)

Karna

Śakti (divine spear/weapon)

Kārtikeya (Skanda)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how extraordinary power—especially divinely empowered weaponry—can overwhelm ordinary resistance, raising an ethical question central to the epic: when might reliance on such force eclipse restraint and right conduct (dharma), and what consequences follow from that imbalance?

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu praises and emphasizes Karṇa’s battlefield dominance, specifically when Karṇa holds the Śakti spear. By likening him to Kārtikeya, the war-god, the speaker suggests that few (if any) warriors can stand before him in direct combat at that moment.