Shloka 20
Aśvatthāman’s Arrow-Screen and the Confrontation with Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रौणि–युधिष्ठिर-संग्रामः)
अहमेको हनिष्यामि जोषमास्स्व कुदेशज । मैं अपने बलको अच्छी तरह जानता हूँ; इसलिये श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनसे कदापि नहीं डरता हूँ। नीच देशमें उत्पन्न शल्य! तुम चुप रहो। मैं अकेला ही सहस्ौ्रों श्रीकृष्णों और सैकड़ों अर्जुनोंको मार डालूँगा ।। स्त्रियों बालाश्र वृद्धाश्व॒ प्राय: क्रीडागता जना:,मूर्ख शल्य! स्त्रियाँ, बच्चे और बूढ़े लोग, खेलकूदमें लगे हुए मनुष्य और स्वाध्याय करनेवाले पुरुष भी दुरात्मा मद्रनिवासियोंके विषयमें जिन गाथाओंको गाया करते हैं तथा ब्राह्मणोंने पहले राजाके समीप आकर यथावत् रूपसे जिनका वर्णन किया है, उन गाथाओंको एकाग्रचित्त होकर मुझसे सुनो और सुनकर चुपचाप सह लो या जवाब दो
karṇa uvāca |
aham eko haniṣyāmi joṣam āsva kudeśaja |
striyo bālāś ca vṛddhāś ca prāyaḥ krīḍāgatā janāḥ |
(mūḍha śalya ...)
Karna said: “I alone shall slay them; be silent, O man born in a base land. I know my own strength well; therefore I do not fear Krishna and Arjuna at all. O Shalya—stay quiet. I alone will kill thousands of Krishnas and hundreds of Arjunas. Foolish Shalya! Women, children, and the aged—indeed, even people absorbed in play, and men devoted to study—sing the ballads that circulate about the wicked Madra-dwellers; and the Brahmins, having earlier come before the king, have described these matters in due form. Listen to those accounts from me with a concentrated mind; having heard them, either endure them in silence or reply.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how unchecked pride and harsh speech can become a moral failing even in a warrior context. Karna’s exaggerated self-confidence and contemptuous insults toward Shalya show a lapse in restraint (vāg-dharma), turning strategic bravado into ethically problematic abuse that damages alliances and judgment.
On the battlefield, Karna addresses Shalya (serving as his charioteer) with anger. He boasts that he alone can defeat even Krishna and Arjuna, orders Shalya to be silent, and then threatens to recite widely known ballads criticizing the Madra people—demanding that Shalya listen and either endure it quietly or respond.