Shloka 26

Devanagari script

सर्व दुर्योधनस्यार्थ त्यक्त मे भूरिदक्षिण । मा चैतद्‌ व्याधिमरणं क्षत्रं स्थादिति कौरव

Transliteration

sarva duryodhanasyārtha tyakta me bhūridakṣiṇa | mā caitad vyādhimaraṇaṁ kṣatraṁ sthād iti kaurava ||

Translation

Karna berkata: “Demi Duryodhana aku telah melepaskan segalanya—bahkan ganjaran dan keuntungan besar yang mungkin menjadi bahagianku. Wahai Kaurava, janganlah sampai dharma kesatria (kṣatra-dharma) dicap sekadar ‘penyakit dan kematian’.”

Word by Word

सर्वम्all, everything

दुर्योधनस्यof Duryodhana

अर्थम्purpose, interest, cause

त्यक्तम्abandoned, given up

मेof me, my

भूरिदक्षिणO one of abundant gifts (liberal giver)

माdo not

चand

एतत्this

व्याधिमरणम्death by disease (illness and death)

क्षत्रम्kshatriya-hood, warrior status

स्थात्may it be, should remain

इतिthus

कौरवO Kaurava

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Karna

Duryodhana

Kaurava (a Kuru prince addressed)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Karna frames warrior duty as an ethical vocation grounded in honor and resolve, not as a meaningless descent into suffering and death. He asserts that loyalty and chosen duty must retain dignity, even amid inevitable mortality.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the midst of the war discourse, Karna speaks to a Kuru prince, declaring that he has sacrificed personal gain for Duryodhana’s cause and urging that the Kṣatriya path should not be reduced to a reputation of mere disease and dying.