Shloka 18
Aśvatthāman’s Arrow-Screen and the Confrontation with Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रौणि–युधिष्ठिर-संग्रामः)
सुहृद् भूत्वा रिपु: कि मां कृष्णा भ्यां भीषयिष्यसि । तौ वा मामद्य हन्तारौ हनिष्ये वापि तावहम्,तुम मेरे शत्रु होकर भी सुहृद् बनकर मुझे श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनसे क्यों डरा रहे हो। आज या तो वे ही दोनों मुझे मार डालेंगे या मैं ही उन दोनोंका संहार कर दूँगा
suhṛd bhūtvā ripuḥ ki māṁ kṛṣṇābhyāṁ bhīṣayiṣyasi | tau vā mām adya hantārau haniṣye vāpi tāv aham ||
Karna said: “Though you are my enemy, why do you, posing as a friend, try to frighten me with Krishna and Arjuna? Today either those two will slay me, or I will myself destroy them both.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior ethos of refusing intimidation and embracing the consequences of battle—either death or victory—while also exposing how pride and rivalry can harden one’s moral stance into a fatalistic, all-or-nothing resolve.
Karna rebukes a speaker who, despite being an enemy, speaks like a well-wisher and tries to deter him by invoking the fearsome pair Krishna and Arjuna. Karna declares that the day’s outcome will be decisive: either they will kill him, or he will kill them.