Shloka 50
युधिष्ठिरस्य धनंजय-प्रति गर्हा
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproach to Dhanaṃjaya
अभिद्रुत्य तु राधेय: पाण्डुपुत्रं युधिष्ठिरम्
abhidrutya tu rādheyaḥ pāṇḍuputraṃ yudhiṣṭhiram | śubhalakṣaṇasampannena gaurahastena tasya skandhaṃ spṛṣṭvā balād grahītuṃ cikīrṣur iva, ātmānaṃ pavitrayitum iva | tasminn eva kāle kuntīdevyai dattavacanaṃ tasya smṛtim ājagāma ||
三阇耶说道：罗陀之子迦尔纳（Karṇa）疾驰追赶般度之子坚战（Yudhiṣṭhira）。他以洁白的手——其上具足吉相，如金刚、华盖、钩杖、鱼、旗幡、龟、莲花等——触及坚战的肩头，似欲以强力擒拿，仿佛借此举自净其身。然而就在那一刻，迦尔纳忆起自己曾向昆蒂王后许下的誓言。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid the fury of battle, moral restraint can arise from a prior vow: Karṇa’s remembered promise to Kuntī checks an impulse toward a decisive but ethically constrained act, showing how personal commitments and dharma can limit violence.
Karṇa closes in on Yudhiṣṭhira and physically touches his shoulder, appearing ready to seize him; at that critical instant he recalls the word he had given to Kuntī, which alters or restrains his immediate course of action.