Shloka 63

कर्णार्जुनसमागमः — The Karṇa–Arjuna Confrontation

Cosmic Spectatorship and Vows

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत कर्णपर्वमें युधिष्िरिका पलायनविषयक तिरसठवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

abhīdṛṣṇaṁ ca codayac chvān prekṣate māṁ muhur muhuḥ | na ca paśyāmi samare karṇa prati palāyitum ||

Translation

“E ele, avançando com grande urgência, continua a olhar para mim repetidas vezes. No meio da batalha, não considero correto fugir diante de Karṇa.”

Word by Word

• {'abhīdṛṣṇam': 'with great urgency

• vehemently', 'ca': 'and', 'codayat': 'urging on

• driving (horses/chariot) forward', 'aśvān': 'horses', 'prekṣate': 'looks at

• watches', 'mām': 'me', 'muhur muhuḥ': 'again and again

• repeatedly', 'na': 'not', 'paśyāmi': 'I see

• I consider', 'samare': 'in battle

• in the battlefield', 'karṇam (karṇa)': 'Karna (proper name)', 'prati': 'before

• in the face of', 'palāyitum': 'to flee

Speaker

(युधिष्टिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Karṇa
• horses

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Yudhiṣṭhira frames retreat before a formidable opponent as ethically improper for a kṣatriya in the heat of battle; steadfastness and honor are presented as integral to dharma when one has entered righteous combat.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira observes the opposing warrior (associated with Karṇa’s side) urgently driving the chariot and repeatedly watching him, and he declares that fleeing from Karṇa on the battlefield is not acceptable to him.