Shloka 22
कर्ण बोला--वासव! मेरे कवच और कुण्डल लेकर आप मुझे अपनी वह अमोघ शक्ति प्रदान कीजिये जो सेनाके अग्रभागमें शत्रुसमुदायका संहार करनेवाली है ।। ततः संचिन्त्य मनसा मुहूर्तमिव वासव: । शक््त्यर्थ पृथिवीपाल कर्ण वाक्यमथाब्रवीत्,राजन! तब इन्द्रने शक्तिके विषयमें दो घड़ी-तक मन-ही-मन विचार करके कर्णसे इस प्रकार कहा--
Karṇa uvāca— Vāsava! mama kavaca-kuṇḍale gṛhītvā tvaṁ me tāṁ amoghāṁ śaktiṁ pradāhi yā senāyāḥ agrabhāge śatru-samūhasya saṁhāra-kāriṇī. Tataḥ sañcintya manasā muhūrtam iva Vāsavaḥ śakty-artham pṛthivī-pāla Karṇa-vākyam athābravīt—
Wika ni Karna: “O Vāsava (Indra)! Tanggapin mo ang aking baluti at mga hikaw; at kapalit nito, ipagkaloob mo sa akin ang di-pumapalya mong kapangyarihang-sibat na sa unahan ng hukbo’y nakapupuksa sa nagkakumpol na hanay ng mga kaaway.” Pagkaraan, si Vāsava, matapos magnilay sa loob-loob na wari’y saglit lamang, ay nagsalita kay Karna—O hari—tungkol sa kapangyarihan ng sandatang iyon.
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical tension between heroic generosity (dāna) and strategic self-preservation: Karna is willing to surrender life-protecting gifts for a weapon of decisive power, showing how vows of giving and the pursuit of victory can collide with personal safety and broader dharma.
Karna addresses Indra (in disguise in the wider episode) and proposes an exchange: he will give his divine armor and earrings if Indra grants him an infallible śakti capable of annihilating enemy forces at the battlefront. Indra then pauses to consider and begins to respond about the śakti.