यदि जानाति मां राजा धर्मात्मा संशितव्रतः ॥
कुन्त्याः प्रथमजं पुत्रं न स राज्यं ग्रहीष्यति ॥
प्राप्य चापि महद् राज्यं तद् अहं मधुसूदन ॥
स्फीतं दुर्योधनायैव संप्रदद्याम् अरिंदम ॥
स एव राजा धर्मात्मा शाश्वतो ऽस्तु युधिष्ठिरः ॥
नेता यस्य हृषीकेशो योद्धा यस्य धनंजयः ॥
पृथिवी तस्य राष्ट्रं च यस्य भीमो महारथः ॥
नकुलः सहदेवश् च द्रौपदेयाश् च माधव ॥
उत्तमौजा युधामन्युः सत्यधर्मा च सोमकिः ॥
चैद्यश् च चेकितानश् च शिखण्डी चापराजितः ॥
yadi jānāti māṃ rājā dharmātmā saṃśitavrataḥ ||
kuntyāḥ prathamajaṃ putraṃ na sa rājyaṃ grahīṣyati ||
prāpya cāpi mahad rājyaṃ tad ahaṃ madhusūdana ||
sphītaṃ duryodhanāyaiva saṃpradadyām ariṃdama ||
sa eva rājā dharmātmā śāśvato 'stu yudhiṣṭhiraḥ ||
netā yasya hṛṣīkeśo yoddhā yasya dhanaṃjayaḥ ||
pṛthivī tasya rāṣṭraṃ ca yasya bhīmo mahārathaḥ ||
nakulaḥ sahadevaś ca draupadeyāś ca mādhava ||
uttamaujā yudhāmanyuḥ satyadharmā ca somakiḥ ||
caidyaś ca cekitānaś ca śikhaṇḍī cāparājitaḥ ||
"If the righteous king, firm in his vows, learns that I am the firstborn son of Kunti, he will not accept the kingdom. And even if I obtained this great, prosperous kingdom, O Madhusudana, I would hand it over to Duryodhana alone, O tamer of foes. Let Yudhishthira, righteous of soul, be the everlasting king: his leader is Hrishikesha, his warrior is Dhananjaya; his earth and his kingdom are wherever Bhima the great chariot-warrior is, Nakula, Sahadeva, and the sons of Draupadi, O Madhava, wherever Uttamaujas, Yudhamanyu, Satyadharman the descendant of Somaka, the king of Chedi, Chekitana, and the unconquered Shikhandin are."
75d4f4d1a337 · published Jul 17, 2026, 5:59:56 AM UTC
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Karna speaks from within a complex dharma: he acknowledges the truth Krishna has revealed, yet does not set aside his debt of gratitude to those who raised and sustained him. His image of the war as a sacrifice shows that the battle is already being lived by him as an inevitable, sacred and terrible reckoning for choices made long ago.