एतच् छ्रुत्वा महान् नादः सभ्यानाम् उदतिष्ठत ॥
विकर्णं शंसमानानां सौबलं च विनिन्दताम् ॥
तस्मिन्न् उपरते शब्दे राधेयः क्रोधमूर्छितः ॥
प्रगृह्य रुचिरं बाहुम् इदं वचनम् अब्रवीत् ॥
दृश्यन्ते वै विकर्णे हि वैकृतानि बहून्य् अपि ॥
तज्जस् तस्य विनाशाय यथाग्निर् अरणिप्रजः ॥
एते न किं चिद् अप्य् आहुश् चोद्यमानापि कृष्णया ॥
धर्मेण विजितां मन्ये मन्यन्ते द्रुपदात्मजाम् ॥
etac chrutvā mahān nādaḥ sabhyānām udatiṣṭhata ||
vikarṇaṃ śaṃsamānānāṃ saubalaṃ ca vinindatām ||
tasminn uparate śabde rādheyaḥ krodhamūrchitaḥ ||
pragṛhya ruciraṃ bāhum idaṃ vacanam abravīt ||
dṛśyante vai vikarṇe hi vaikṛtāni bahūny api ||
tajjas tasya vināśāya yathāgnir araṇiprajaḥ ||
ete na kiṃ cid apy āhuś codyamānāpi kṛṣṇayā ||
dharmeṇa vijitāṃ manye manyante drupadātmajām ||
Hearing this, a great uproar rose among those seated in the assembly, praising Vikarna and reviling the son of Subala. When that noise had died down, Karna, son of Radha, seized by anger, raised his splendid arm and said: "Many perversions of mind are visible in Vikarna; as fire born of the kindling-wood consumes it, so his own word works toward his ruin. These Pandavas said nothing at all, though Krishna urged them on — for they themselves, by dharma, hold the daughter of Drupada to be won."
8dd4fcd7b4fb · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:12:36 PM UTC
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The image of fire consuming its own kindling-wood is raised by Karna as a threat, but it falls back upon himself: every unlawful word spoken at the hour of judgment consumes first of all the one who uttered it. The cunning of his argument is telling: the silence of the Pandavas, born of their bond of oath to the elder and of grief, Karna twists into an admission of guilt — thus one who distorts the truth passes off another's suffering as consent. The verse teaches wariness of one who turns silence into an argument against the silent; and shows how eloquence stripped of dharma becomes a weapon against the innocent. The fire he invokes will, in its own hour, turn upon the persecutors themselves.