तम् इन्द्रो ब्राह्मणो भूत्वा भिक्षार्थं भूतभावनः ॥
कुण्डले प्रार्थयाम् आस कवचं च महाद्युतिः ॥
उत्कृत्य विमनाः स्वाङ्गात् कवचं रुधिरस्रवम् ॥
कर्णस् तु कुण्डले छित्त्वा प्रायच्छत् स कृताञ्जलिः ॥
शक्तिं तस्मै ददौ शक्रः विस्मितो वाक्यम् अब्रवीत् ॥
देवासुरमनुष्याणां गन्धर्वोरगरक्षसाम् ॥
यस्मै क्षेप्स्यसि रुष्टः सन् सो ऽनया न भविष्यति ॥
पुरा नाम तु तस्यासीद् वसुषेण इति श्रुतम् ॥
ततो वैकर्तनः कर्णः कर्मणा तेन सो ऽभवत् ॥
tam indro brāhmaṇo bhūtvā bhikṣārthaṃ bhūtabhāvanaḥ ||
kuṇḍale prārthayām āsa kavacaṃ ca mahādyutiḥ ||
utkṛtya vimanāḥ svāṅgāt kavacaṃ rudhirasravam ||
karṇas tu kuṇḍale chittvā prāyacchat sa kṛtāñjaliḥ ||
śaktiṃ tasmai dadau śakraḥ vismito vākyam abravīt ||
devāsuramanuṣyāṇāṃ gandharvoragarakṣasām ||
yasmai kṣepsyasi ruṣṭaḥ san so 'nayā na bhaviṣyati ||
purā nāma tu tasyāsīd vasuṣeṇa iti śrutam ||
tato vaikartanaḥ karṇaḥ karmaṇā tena so 'bhavat ||
"To him Indra, nourisher of beings, having become a brahmin for the sake of alms, the greatly radiant one, begged the earrings and the armor. Cutting from his own body, downcast, the armor dripping blood, and having cut off the earrings too, Karna offered them, with joined palms. Shakra gave him a dart (shakti) and, astonished, spoke: 'Among gods, asuras, humans, gandharvas, serpents, and rakshasas — at whomever, enraged, you hurl it, he shall not survive it.' Formerly, indeed, his name was, it is heard, Vasushena; thereafter, by that deed, he became Vaikartana Karna."
e5490d22a947 · publicado 12 jul 2026, 16:30:26 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Here Karna's generosity reaches its summit — and in it, his sacrifice. Both cunning and glory are telling at once: Indra, father of Arjuna, deceives Karna by disguise as a brahmin, luring away his invulnerable armor — for he knows Karna will not refuse a begging brahmin, even at the cost of his life. Here two forces collide: divine cunning, safeguarding its purpose (the saving of Arjuna), and human greatness, unwavering in its word even unto its own ruin. The word "downcast" (vimanāḥ) is telling: Karna is not glad — he understands that he gives away his life — and still he gives; this is not blindness but conscious fidelity to a vow of generosity that for him outweighs life itself. Herein lies the hero's height and his tragedy alike: his virtue is genuine and unfeigned, and so his sacrifice is so great. Telling too is the new name — Vaikartana ("he who cut off [his own]"): the very act of self-giving becomes his name. Thus the scripture crowns the tale of Karna's birth with an image in which nobility and doom are inseparable: he gave away his own protection — and thereby won undying fame as a giver.