Shloka 69

Karna Reproves Shalya; Brahmin Reports on Bāhlīkas; Shalya’s Universalizing Rebuttal (कर्ण–शल्य संवादः)

Devanagari script

राजन! समरांगणमें देवता और असुर भी मेरा सामना नहीं कर सकते, फिर मनुष्य- योनिमें उत्पन्न हुए पाण्डव तो कर ही कैसे सकते हैं

Transliteration

rājan! samarāṅgaṇe devatāś ca asurāś ca mama sāmānaṁ na śaknuvanti; punaḥ manuṣya-yoniṣu utpannāḥ pāṇḍavās tu kathaṁ śaknuyuḥ?

Translation

โอ้พระราชา! ในสนามรบ แม้เหล่าเทพและอสูรก็มิอาจยืนหยัดต้านข้าได้ แล้วปาณฑพผู้กำเนิดในภาวะมนุษย์จะทำได้อย่างไร

Word by Word

राजन्O king

समराङ्गणेin the battlefield

देवताःthe gods

असुराःthe asuras

अपिeven/also

ममof me / my

सामनाencounter / face-to-face combat

नnot

शक्नुवन्तिare able (to)

तर्हिthen

मनुष्ययोनौin a human womb/birth

उत्पन्नाःborn / arisen

पाण्डवाःthe Pandavas

तुbut/indeed

कथम्how?

शक्नुवन्तिcan (they) be able (to)?

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Karna

King (addressed as rājan)

Devas

Asuras

Pāṇḍavas

Battlefield (samarāṅgaṇa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how pride and overconfidence can distort judgment in dharmic conflict: measuring worth only by power leads a warrior to underestimate opponents and ignore the moral and strategic complexities of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Karna addresses the king (likely Dhṛtarāṣṭra) and asserts his invincibility, claiming that even gods and asuras cannot face him in battle, and therefore the human-born Pāṇḍavas are even less capable—an emphatic declaration of martial confidence before the ongoing Kurukṣetra fighting.