Shloka 37
अद्यापुत्रा सूतमाता भवित्री कुन्ती वाथो वा मया तेन वापि । सत्यं वदाम्यद्य न कर्णमाजौ शरैरहत्वा कवचं विमोक्ष्ये
adyāputrā sūtamātā bhavitrī kuntī vātho vā mayā tena vāpi | satyaṃ vadāmyadya na karṇamājau śarairahatvā kavacaṃ vimokṣye ||
三阇耶说道：“今日，要么那‘御者之子’的母亲将因我而失子；要么我的母亲昆蒂将因迦尔那而失去我——她仅存的一个儿子。我说的是真话：今日在战场上，若不以我的箭矢射杀迦尔那，我决不卸下甲胄。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds satya (truthfulness) expressed as a binding vow in a dharmic crisis: the speaker accepts the moral weight of inevitable loss and commits to a decisive act in war, framing it as an unavoidable consequence rather than a casual desire for victory.
In the Karṇa-parvan battle setting, a solemn pledge is voiced: either Karṇa will be slain (making his mother bereft), or the speaker will be slain by Karṇa (making Kuntī bereft). The speaker swears not to remove his armor until Karṇa is killed by his arrows, intensifying the imminence of the climactic duel.