Shloka 3
कर्णभीमसमागमः | Karṇa–Bhīma Encounter
यथा देवगणैस्तत्र वृतो यत्नात् पितामहः । तथास्माभिर्भवान् यत्नात् कर्णादभ्यधिको वृत:,जैसे देवताओंने वहाँ यत्नपूर्वक ब्रह्माजीका वरण किया था, उसी प्रकार हमलोगोंने विशेष चेष्टा करके कर्णसे भी अधिक बलवान् आपका सारथि-कर्मके लिये वरण किया
yathā devagaṇais tatra vṛto yatnāt pitāmahaḥ | tathāsmābhir bhavān yatnāt karṇād abhyadhiko vṛtaḥ ||
ทุรโยธนะกล่าวว่า “ดังที่หมู่เทพ ณ กาลก่อน ได้เพียรพยายามเลือกปิตามหะ (พรหมา) ฉันใด พวกเราก็ได้คัดเลือกท่านด้วยความอุตสาหะเป็นพิเศษ—ผู้ซึ่งนับว่ายิ่งกว่าแม้กรรณะ—ให้ทำหน้าที่สารถี ฉันนั้น”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how praise and comparison are used to secure loyalty and service in a crisis: Duryodhana elevates the addressee’s status—claiming him superior even to Karṇa—to strengthen commitment to a crucial wartime role (the charioteer), showing the ethical tension between sincere honor and strategic flattery.
In Karṇa Parva, Duryodhana addresses the person appointed as charioteer and emphasizes that the Kauravas selected him with great effort, likening their choice to the gods’ choosing of Pitāmaha (Brahmā). The statement functions as reassurance and inducement before battle.