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 berkata: “Dialah sandaran utama putra-putra Dhṛtarāṣṭra—angkuh, berdaya-juang setajam bilah, tak tahan penghinaan, dan selalu mudah menyala. Dalam perang demi perang ia menyerang kami, melemparkan senjata dan kata-kata yang melukai. Sang kesatria yang tiada tanding di dunia, yang di medan laga laksana singa bermain, disebut sebagai kakak sulung kami: Karṇa, putra Kuntī yang lahir secara rahasia.”
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.