Shloka 30

Devanagari script

उत्कृत्य तु प्रदास्यामि कुण्डले कवचं च ते । निकृत्तेषु तु गात्रेषु न मे बीभत्सता भवेत्‌,मैं आपको अपने शरीरसे उधेड़कर कवच और कुण्डल तो दे दूँगा; परंतु उस समय मेरे अंगोंके कट जानेपर मेरा स्वरूप बीभत्स न होना चाहिये

Transliteration

utkṛtya tu pradāsyāmi kuṇḍale kavacaṃ ca te | nikṛtteṣu tu gātreṣu na me bībhatsatā bhavet |

Translation

Karna nói: “Ta sẽ tự tay xé khỏi thân mình mà dâng cho ngài đôi khuyên tai và áo giáp. Nhưng khi các phần thân thể bị cắt rời trong việc ấy, xin cho hình dung ta đừng trở nên ghê rợn.”

Word by Word

उत्कृत्यhaving cut out / having torn off

तुbut / indeed

प्रदास्यामिI will give

कुण्डलेthe two earrings

कवचम्armor

चand

तेto you

निकृत्तेषुwhen (they are) cut off

तुbut / however

गात्रेषुin the limbs / on the body-parts

नnot

मेof me / my

बीभत्सताghastliness / repulsiveness

भवेत्should be / may become

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Karna

kuṇḍala (earrings)

kavaca (armor)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethic of dāna (gift-giving) carried to an extreme: Karna is willing to surrender even life-protecting possessions to uphold his reputation for generosity and honor, while also expressing concern for dignity—asking that the act not leave him in a grotesque state.

What is happening in the narrative?

Karna, approached by a petitioner seeking his natural armor and earrings, declares he will physically remove them from his body and give them. He adds a condition or wish: that even if his limbs are cut in the process, his appearance should not become repulsive—underscoring both the brutality of the request and his insistence on maintaining personal dignity.