Shloka 3
कर्णभीमसमागमः | Karṇa–Bhīma Encounter
यथा देवगणैस्तत्र वृतो यत्नात् पितामहः । तथास्माभिर्भवान् यत्नात् कर्णादभ्यधिको वृत:
yathā devagaṇais tatra vṛto yatnāt pitāmahaḥ | tathāsmābhir bhavān yatnāt karṇād abhyadhiko vṛtaḥ ||
ドゥルヨーダナは言った。「かつて神々の群れが、力を尽くして祖父（ピターマハ）を選んだように、われらもまた特別の配慮をもって、カルナにも勝ると目される汝を、御者の務めに選び取ったのだ。」
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how praise and comparison are used to secure loyalty and service in a crisis: Duryodhana elevates the addressee’s status—claiming him superior even to Karṇa—to strengthen commitment to a crucial wartime role (the charioteer), showing the ethical tension between sincere honor and strategic flattery.
In Karṇa Parva, Duryodhana addresses the person appointed as charioteer and emphasizes that the Kauravas selected him with great effort, likening their choice to the gods’ choosing of Pitāmaha (Brahmā). The statement functions as reassurance and inducement before battle.