Shloka 656
Karna Reproves Shalya; Brahmin Reports on Bāhlīkas; Shalya’s Universalizing Rebuttal (कर्ण–शल्य संवादः)
समुद्ातुं न शक्ष्यन्ति देवा अपि सवासवा: । ऐसी व्यवस्था कर लेनेपर जब मैं रथमें बैदूँगा
samudātuṁ na śakṣyanti devā api savāsavāḥ | evaṁ vyavasthāṁ kṛtvā yadāhaṁ rathe niṣatsyāmi tadā sarva-guṇair arjunāt śreṣṭho bhaviṣyāmi | kuruśreṣṭha! tato ’haṁ yuddhe ’rjunaṁ niyataṁ jeṣyāmi | indra-sahitaḥ sarvo deva-gaṇo ’pi mama samīpaṁ na śakṣyati ||
Sinabi ni Karna: “Kahit ang mga diyos, kasama si Indra, ay hindi makatatagal laban sa akin. Kapag naisagawa ko na ang mga paghahandang ito at maupo sa aking karwaheng pandigma, hihigitan ko si Arjuna sa bawat kagalingan. O pinakamainam sa mga Kuru, sa digmaan ay tiyak kong tatalunin si Arjuna. Maging ang buong hukbo ng mga diyos na kasama si Indra ay hindi makakaharap sa akin.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the warrior ethos of confidence and resolve, while also warning—by implication through Karna’s escalating claims—how pride and overconfidence can cloud judgment in dharmic warfare, where outcomes depend not only on prowess but also on righteousness, timing, and destiny.
Karna, preparing for a decisive confrontation, declares that after making certain strategic preparations and mounting his chariot, he will surpass Arjuna in all qualities and surely defeat him—so much so that even Indra and the gods could not oppose him.