Shloka 44
अर्जुनकर्णसंनिपातवर्णनम् / The Convergence of Arjuna and Karṇa
यो नः पुरा षण्ढतिलानवोचत् सभामध्ये कौरवाणां समक्षम् । स दुर्मति: कच्चिदुपेत्य संख्ये त्वया हतः सूतपुत्रो हामर्षी,जिसने पूर्वकालमें सभाभवनके भीतर कौरवोंकी आँखोंके सामने हमें थोथे तिलोंके समान नपुंसक बताया था वह अमर्षशील दुर्बुद्धि सूतपुत्र क्या आज युद्धमें आकर तुम्हारे हाथसे मारा गया?
yo naḥ purā ṣaṇḍhatilān avocat sabhāmadhye kauravāṇāṁ samakṣam | sa durmatiḥ kaccid upetya saṅkhye tvayā hataḥ sūtaputro hāmārṣī ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Was that ill-minded, quick-to-anger son of a charioteer—who long ago, in the assembly hall, before the very eyes of the Kauravas, derided us as ‘impotent as empty sesame’—has he now come onto the battlefield and been slain by your hand?”
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of speech and public humiliation: words spoken in a royal assembly can become enduring moral injuries that fuel cycles of resentment and violence. It also reflects the kṣatriya concern for honor and the belief that grave insults invite eventual reckoning on the battlefield.
After a major combat outcome, Yudhiṣṭhira questions his ally (addressed as ‘you’) to confirm whether Karṇa—the ‘sūtaputra’ known for harsh, anger-driven speech—has been killed. He recalls Karṇa’s earlier courtroom insult delivered before the Kauravas, using that memory to identify the slain foe and to frame the event as retribution for past humiliation.