Shloka 53
कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira
Devanagari script
यथा चाल्पश्रुतो मूढो धर्माणामविभागवित्
Transliteration
yathā cālpaśruto mūḍho dharmāṇām avibhāgavit
Translation
Wie ein törichter Mensch von geringem Lernen, der die rechten Unterschiede zwischen den Pflichten des Dharma nicht zu erkennen vermag,
Word by Word
यथाas, just as
यथा:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootयथा
चand
च:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootच
अल्पश्रुतःone who has heard/learned little; poorly learned
अल्पश्रुतः:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootअल्पश्रुत
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
मूढःdeluded, foolish
मूढः:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootमूढ
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
धर्माणाम्of duties/laws/virtues
धर्माणाम्:
TypeNoun
Rootधर्म
FormMasculine, Genitive, Plural
अविभागवित्knowing no distinctions (i.e., not discerning divisions)
अविभागवित्:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootअविभागविद्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
Speaker
वायुदेव उवाच
Characters & Entities
V
VāyudevaDharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Meter (Chandas)
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
Dharma requires viveka (discriminative understanding). Mere partial learning leads to confusion, and without grasping the distinctions among duties and contexts, one misjudges what is righteous.
Vāyudeva begins an instructive comparison: he points to the example of an ignorant, poorly educated person who cannot distinguish among dharmas, setting up a broader admonition about mistaken moral reasoning.