Shloka 21
योडसौ रणे नर नान्यं पृथिव्यामनुमन्यते । तस्याद्य सूतपुत्रस्य भूमि: पास्यति शोणितम्,“जो भूमण्डलमें दूसरे किसी पुरुषको रणभूमिमें अपने समान नहीं मानता है, आज यह पृथ्वी उस सूतपुत्रके रक्तका पान करेगी
yo 'sau raṇe nara nānyaṃ pṛthivyām anumanyate | tasyādya sūtaputrasya bhūmiḥ pāsyati śoṇitam ||
Sañjaya said: “That warrior who, on the battlefield, acknowledges no other man on earth as his equal—today the earth will drink the blood of that sūta’s son.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical irony of martial pride: the warrior who refuses to recognize equals is still subject to mortality and the consequences of war; arrogance and invincibility-claims collapse before time, fate, and the brutal reality of battle.
Sañjaya, narrating the Kurukṣetra war to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, foretells imminent bloodshed: the famed ‘sūtaputra’ (Karna), known for considering none his equal in battle, is about to be struck down—so the earth will ‘drink’ his blood.