Shloka 18

Devanagari script

यदि दास्यसि कर्ण त्वं सहजे कुण्डले शुभे । आयुष: प्रक्षयं गत्वा मृत्योर्वशमुपैष्यसि,“कर्ण! यदि तुम अपने जन्मके साथ ही उत्पन्न हुए ये सुन्दर कुण्डल इन्द्रको दे दोगे तो तुम्हारी आयु क्षीण हो जायगी और तुम मृत्युके अधीन हो जाओगे

Transliteration

yadi dāsyasi karṇa tvaṁ sahaje kuṇḍale śubhe | āyuṣaḥ prakṣayaṁ gatvā mṛtyor vaśam upaiṣyasi ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Karna, wenn du Indra jene schönen Ohrringe gibst, die mit dir geboren wurden, wird deine Lebensspanne schwinden, und du gerätst unter die Herrschaft des Todes.“

Word by Word

यदिif

दास्यसिyou will give

कर्णO Karna

त्वम्you

सहजेin/with the two inborn (ones)

कुण्डलेin/with the two earrings

शुभेbeautiful/auspicious (two)

आयुषःof (your) life-span

प्रक्षयम्destruction/waning

गत्वाhaving gone/attained

मृत्योःof death

वशम्control/power

उपैष्यसिyou will go to/come under

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Karna

Indra

kuṇḍala (inborn earrings)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical tension between extraordinary generosity (dāna) and self-preservation: a gift made from one’s own vital protection can be morally admirable yet materially ruinous, showing how virtue may be tested by consequences and by the intentions of those who request the gift.

What is happening in the narrative?

A warning is voiced to Karna: if he gives away his inborn, beautiful earrings to Indra, his life-span will be reduced and he will become subject to death—foreshadowing that the requested ‘gift’ is not ordinary charity but a decisive loss of his natural safeguard.