Shloka 14
धनंजय-दुर्योधन-संग्रामः
Arjuna–Duryodhana Engagement and Admonition
अयं कौन्तेय कामस्ते नचिरात् समुपस्थित: । योत्स्यसे हि मया सार्धमद्य द्रक्ष्य्सि मे बलम्,कुन्तीकुमार! मेरे साथ युद्धका जो तेरा हौसला है, वह अभी-अभी प्रकट हुआ है। अतः अब मेरे साथ तेरा युद्ध होगा और आज तू मेरा बल स्वयं देख लेगा
ayaṁ kaunteya kāmas te nacirāt samupasthitaḥ | yotsyase hi mayā sārdham adya drakṣyasi me balam, kuntīkumāra |
Karna mengejek: “Wahai putera Kunti, hasratmu untuk berhadapan denganku di medan perang baru sahaja timbul. Kini engkau benar-benar akan bertarung denganku; hari ini engkau akan menyaksikan kekuatanku dengan matamu sendiri.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kshatriya ethos: courage and claims to valor must be demonstrated through action. It also shows how honor-culture rhetoric—taunts about ‘late-arising’ resolve—functions to provoke an opponent into a decisive encounter.
Karna addresses Arjuna directly, asserting that Arjuna’s readiness to fight him has only now surfaced, and he challenges him to battle immediately, promising that Arjuna will see Karna’s strength that very day.