Shloka 10
Aśvatthāman’s Arrow-Screen and the Confrontation with Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रौणि–युधिष्ठिर-संग्रामः)
तेनाहमिषुणा शल्य वासुदेवधनंजयौ । योत्स्ये परमसंक्रुद्धस्तत् कर्म सदृ्शं मम,शल्य! मैं अत्यन्त कुपित होकर उस बाणके द्वारा श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनके साथ युद्ध करूँगा और वह कार्य मेरे योग्य होगा
tenāham iṣuṇā śalya vāsudeva-dhanañjayau | yotsye paramasaṃkruddhas tat karma sadṛśaṃ mama ||
Karna berkata: “Wahai Śalya! Dengan anak panah itu aku akan bertempur melawan Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa) dan Dhanañjaya (Arjuna), menyala dengan kemurkaan yang paling dahsyat. Perbuatan itu akan layak bagiku—sepadan dengan keperkasaan dan tekadku.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior’s self-conception: Karna frames a violent resolve as “fitting” to his identity and prowess. Ethically, it illustrates how anger and pride can be rationalized as duty or personal worthiness, a recurring Mahābhārata tension between kṣatriya valor and moral discernment.
Karna addresses Śalya, his charioteer, declaring that with a particular arrow he will engage both Kṛṣṇa (as Arjuna’s charioteer) and Arjuna himself. The statement intensifies the battlefield stakes, showing Karna’s heightened fury and determination to strike at the Pāṇḍava side’s central figures.