Shloka 25

Aśvatthāman’s Arrow-Screen and the Confrontation with Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रौणि–युधिष्ठिर-संग्रामः)

Devanagari script

पिता पुत्रश्न माता च श्वश्रूश्वशुरमातुला: । जामाता दुहिता भ्राता नप्तान्ये ते च बान्धवा:

Transliteration

pitā putraś ca mātā ca śvaśrū-śvaśura-mātulāḥ | jāmātā duhitā bhrātā naptānye te ca bāndhavāḥ ||

Translation

Karna sprach: „Vater und Sohn, Mutter, Schwiegermutter und Schwiegervater sowie die Onkel mütterlicherseits; Schwiegersohn, Tochter, Bruder, Enkel und andere dergleichen Verwandte — all dies ist die eigene Sippe.“

Word by Word

पिताfather

पुत्रश्नःson-in-law (lit. 'son-eater'—a kinship term in some traditions)

माताmother

चand

श्वश्रूmother-in-law

श्वशुरःfather-in-law

मातुलाःmaternal uncles

जामाताson-in-law

दुहिताdaughter

भ्राताbrother

नप्ताःgrandsons / descendants

अन्येothers

तेthose / they

चand

बान्धवाःkinsmen, relatives

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Karna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse enumerates close relations to underline the moral weight of bāndhava-bhāva (kinship): those bound by family ties are not ‘others’ but one’s own, and ethical decisions—especially in conflict—must reckon with obligations and the gravity of harming kin.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Karna Parva, amid the escalating violence of the Kurukṣetra war, Karna speaks in a reflective, didactic tone, defining who counts as ‘one’s relatives’—a framing that intensifies the ethical tension of a war where many combatants are bound by family relationships.