Shloka 20
ऋषिसमागमः — युधिष्ठिरस्य शोकवर्णनम्
Sage Assembly and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Articulation of Grief
आश्रयो धार्तराष्ट्राणां मानी तीक्षणपराक्रम: । अमर्षी नित्यसंरम्भी क्षेप्तास्माकं रणे रणे
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | āśrayo dhārtarāṣṭrāṇāṁ mānī tīkṣṇaparākramaḥ | amarṣī nityasaṁrambhī kṣeptāsmākaṁ raṇe raṇe |
Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Dialah sandaran utama putera-putera Dhṛtarāṣṭra—angkuh, berkeperkasaan setajam mata pedang, tidak tahan dihina, dan sentiasa cepat menyala amarah. Dalam pertempuran demi pertempuran dia menyerang kami, melontar senjata dan juga kata-kata yang menghiris. Seorang pahlawan yang tiada tandingan di dunia, singa di medan laga—dialah yang disebut sebagai abang sulung kami: Karṇa, putera Kuntī yang lahir secara rahsia.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how unchecked pride and perpetual anger can make a person formidable yet ethically dangerous; it also frames Karṇa’s power within a tragic moral context—his loyalty to the Kauravas and hostility toward his own brothers complicate simple judgments of virtue and vice.
Yudhiṣṭhira is describing Karṇa as the chief pillar of the Kauravas—proud, fierce, and constantly aggressive toward the Pāṇḍavas in every conflict—while acknowledging the painful report that Karṇa is actually their elder brother, Kuntī’s son born in secrecy.