Shloka 41

कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०

Karṇa’s Pressure on the Pāñcālas; Duryodhana Disabled; Arjuna’s Counter-Advance

Devanagari script

उत्पत्योत्पत्य च मुहुर्मुहृ्तमिति चेति च । वृक्षाग्रेभ्य: स्थलेभ्यश्व निपतन्त्युतन्ति च

Transliteration

utpatyotpatya ca muhur muhur iti ceti ca | vṛkṣāgrebhyaḥ sthalebhyaś ca nipatanty utthanti ca ||

Translation

Der Schwan sprach: „Immer wieder springen sie auf, und immer wieder schreien sie: ‘Weh, weh!’—sie stürzen von den Baumkronen und vom Boden herab und erheben sich dann erneut.“ In ethischer Hinsicht ruft die Zeile den ruhelosen Kreislauf von Furcht und Aufgewühltheit hervor, der aus Torheit und falschem Urteil entspringt: Wer Beständigkeit und Unterscheidungskraft entbehrt, wird zwischen plötzlichen Sprüngen und plötzlichen Stürzen hin- und hergeworfen, klagt jedes Mal und wiederholt doch dasselbe Muster.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'utpatyotpatya', 'gloss': 'leaping up repeatedly

• rising again and again'}, {'term': 'muhur muhuḥ', 'gloss': 'again and again

• time after time'}, {'term': 'iti', 'gloss': 'thus

• indicating quoted speech/thought'}, {'term': 'ceti', 'gloss': 'and ‘ce’

• an exclamation/cry (lamenting sound)'}, {'term': 'vṛkṣāgra', 'gloss': 'tree-top

• the summit of a tree'}, {'term': 'sthala', 'gloss': 'ground

• level place'}, {'term': 'nipatanti', 'gloss': 'they fall down'}, {'term': 'utthanti', 'gloss': 'they rise up

Speaker

हंस उवाच

Characters & Entities

• हंस (Haṃsa, the Swan)
• वृक्ष (tree)
• वृक्षाग्र (tree-top)
• स्थल (ground)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the instability of those driven by confusion and poor judgment: they repeatedly rush forward, fall, lament, and yet repeat the same behavior. The implied counsel is steadiness (dhairya) and discernment (viveka) to avoid cyclical self-made suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Swan’s speech within the Haṃsa–Kākiya (swan-and-crow) episode, the speaker describes beings repeatedly leaping up and falling—crying out in distress—illustrating a pattern of agitation and repeated mishap used as a moral example in the broader Karṇa–Śalya dialogue.