Карна
दृढलक्ष्येण शूरेण भीमसेनेन धन्विना ॥
भृशम् उद्वेजितः संख्ये शरजालैर् अनेकशः ॥
स्थातव्यम् इति तिष्ठामि रणे संप्रति मानद ॥
नैवाङ्गम् इङ्गति किं चिन् मे संतप्तस्य रणेषुभिः ॥
योत्स्यामि तु तथा राजञ् शक्त्याहं परया रणे ॥
यथा पाण्डवमुख्यो ऽसौ न हनिष्यति सैन्धवम् ॥
dṛḍhalakṣyeṇa śūreṇa bhīmasenena dhanvinā ||
bhṛśam udvejitaḥ saṃkhye śarajālair anekaśaḥ ||
sthātavyam iti tiṣṭhāmi raṇe saṃprati mānada ||
naivāṅgam iṅgati kiṃ cin me saṃtaptasya raṇeṣubhiḥ ||
yotsyāmi tu tathā rājañ śaktyāhaṃ parayā raṇe ||
yathā pāṇḍavamukhyo 'sau na haniṣyati saindhavam ||
metre not identified
[Karna:] "Greatly harried in battle by the hero of firm aim, Bhimasena the archer, by his nets of arrows many times over — yet 'one must stand,' and so I stand in battle now, O giver of honor; not a single limb of mine, scorched as I am by battle-arrows, so much as stirs. But I shall fight so, O king, with my utmost might in battle, that that chief of the Pandavas may not slay Saindhava."
311f9f112028 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:25:13 PM UTC
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Karna, wounded and scorched, holds his ground by duty alone: "one must stand — so I stand." It is telling that "not a single limb stirs": will overcomes the exhausted flesh. The verse teaches that fidelity to duty holds a man at his post even when strength is spent; true steadfastness lies not in being unwounded but in this "one must stand," by which the spirit commands the battered body not to yield.