कर्ण उवाच
कृतं सर्वेण मे ऽन्येन सखित्वं च त्वया वृणे ॥
द्वन्द्वयुद्धं च पार्थेन कर्तुम् इच्छामि भारत ॥
दुर्योधन उवाच
भुङ्क्ष्व भोगान् मया सार्धं बन्धूनां प्रियकृद् भव ॥
दुर्हृदां कुरु सर्वेषां मूर्ध्नि पादम् अरिंदम ॥
karṇa uvāca
kṛtaṃ sarveṇa me 'nyena sakhitvaṃ ca tvayā vṛṇe ||
dvandvayuddhaṃ ca pārthena kartum icchāmi bhārata ||
duryodhana uvāca
bhuṅkṣva bhogān mayā sārdhaṃ bandhūnāṃ priyakṛd bhava ||
durhṛdāṃ kuru sarveṣāṃ mūrdhni pādam ariṃdama ||
Karna said: "I have had enough of everything else; your friendship I choose, and I wish for single combat with Partha, O Bharata." Duryodhana said: "Enjoy pleasures together with me, be a benefactor to your friends, and trample beneath your foot the heads of all enemies, O tamer of foes."
221d1d0e8c5c · published Jul 12, 2026, 4:53:32 PM UTC
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Here Karna reveals what is truly dear to him — not wealth, but friendship. It matters that he says, "I have had enough of everything else, your friendship I choose": the noble Karna values not gifts but loyalty and affection, and this very loyalty will become both his greatness and his doom. The verse lays bare both light and shadow at once: Karna's devotion to Duryodhana is sincere and unwavering — a virtue in itself — yet directed at one unworthy of it, and therefore ruinous. It is telling that the noblest of feelings, faithful friendship, binds Karna to the camp of adharma. Thus the verse shows the tragedy of a good quality given over to a bad cause: Karna's loyalty, beautiful in itself, will make him the pillar of wrong all the way to his death.