Shloka 43
Karṇa’s advance against the Pāṇḍava host; Arjuna’s clash with the Saṃśaptakas (कर्णस्य पाण्डवसेनाप्रवेशः—अर्जुनस्य संशप्तकसंप्रहारः)
अहं हि तुल्य: सर्वेषां भूतानां नात्र संशय: । अधार्मिकास्तु हन्तव्या इति मे वतमाहितम्
ahaṃ hi tulyaḥ sarveṣāṃ bhūtānāṃ nātra saṃśayaḥ | adhārmikās tu hantavyā iti me vratam āhitam | tapa ugraṃ samāsthāya niyame parame sthitāḥ |
「我はあらゆる生きとし生けるものに対し等しくある。これに疑いはない。されど我はこの誓願を立てた――不義なる者は討たねばならぬ、と。」
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral tension: one may claim equal regard for all beings, yet still adopt a vow to punish or kill those labeled ‘adhārmika’. It cautions that appeals to dharma can be used rhetorically to legitimize violence, depending on who defines ‘unrighteousness’.
Duryodhana speaks to defend his stance in the war context, asserting impartiality while declaring a duty-vow to slay the unrighteous. The passage also invokes a remembered mythic episode—gods defeating Daityas and the subsequent fierce austerities of Tārakāsura’s three sons—as a precedent for resolve and disciplined power.