वासुदेव उवाच
पश्यामि कर्णं कौन्तेय देवराजम् इवाहवे ॥
विचरन्तं नरव्याघ्रम् अतिमानुषविक्रमम् ॥
नैतस्यान्यो ऽस्ति समरे प्रत्युद्याता धनंजय ॥
ऋते त्वां पुरुषव्याघ्र राक्षसाद् वा घटोत्कचात् ॥
न तु तावद् अहं मन्ये प्राप्तकालं तवानघ ॥
समागमं महाबाहो सूतपुत्रेण संयुगे ॥
vāsudeva uvāca
paśyāmi karṇaṃ kaunteya devarājam ivāhave ||
vicarantaṃ naravyāghram atimānuṣavikramam ||
naitasyānyo 'sti samare pratyudyātā dhanaṃjaya ||
ṛte tvāṃ puruṣavyāghra rākṣasād vā ghaṭotkacāt ||
na tu tāvad ahaṃ manye prāptakālaṃ tavānagha ||
samāgamaṃ mahābāho sūtaputreṇa saṃyuge ||
"I see Karna, o son of Kunti, like the king of the gods in battle, roaming, a tiger among men, with superhuman prowess. There is no other in battle to stand against him, o Dhananjaya, except you, o tiger among men, or the rakshasa Ghatotkacha. But I do not yet consider the encounter with the son of a suta in the clash fitting for the hour, for you, o sinless one, o mighty-armed one."
cf4d7aa440c1 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:49:34 PM UTC
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Krishna restrains Arjuna: your hour with Karna has not yet come. It is telling that the Lord, knowing what is to come, turns his beloved away from a premature clash — not out of fear, but out of knowledge of the appointed times. The verse teaches that wisdom is above all a sense of timing: even the greatest deed has its hour, and haste ruins it; and one guided by higher discernment knows how to restrain the impulse of valor until the moment when it will bear fruit.