Shloka 19

कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira

Devanagari script

अनुसृत्य तु ये धर्म कथयेयुरुपस्थिता: । समासविस्तरदविदां न तेषां वेत्सि निश्चयम्‌,जो स्वयं धर्मका अनुसरण एवं आचरण करके शिष्योंद्वारा उपासित होकर उन्हें धर्मका उपदेश देते हैं; धर्मके संक्षेप एवं विस्तारको जाननेवाले उन गुरुजनोंका इस विषयमें क्या निर्णय है, इसे तुम नहीं जानते

Transliteration

anusṛtya tu ye dharmaṃ kathayeyur upasthitāḥ | samāsavistaradavidāṃ na teṣāṃ vetsi niścayam ||

Translation

But you do not know the settled judgment of those teachers who themselves follow and practice dharma, who are approached and honored by disciples, and who then teach dharma—those who understand both its concise principles and its detailed applications.

Word by Word

अनुसृत्यhaving followed

तुbut/indeed

येwho (those who)

धर्मम्dharma; righteous duty

कथयेयुःwould/should teach; would expound

उपस्थिताःpresent; standing near/attending

समास-विस्तरदविदाम्of those who know the concise and the detailed (exposition)

नnot

तेषाम्of them

वेत्सिyou know

निश्चयम्decision; settled conclusion

Speaker

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Kṛṣṇa

dharma

gurus/teachers

disciples

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Kṛṣṇa stresses epistemic humility in matters of dharma: one should not presume certainty without knowing the considered conclusion of realized teachers who both practice dharma and understand its principles (summary) as well as its nuanced applications (detail).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Karṇa Parva war setting, Kṛṣṇa addresses his interlocutor to correct a claim or assumption about what dharma requires, pointing out that the speaker lacks knowledge of the authoritative decision held by true dharma-knowing teachers.