Shloka 50

कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira

Devanagari script

स पृष्ट: कौशिक: सत्यं वचनं तानुवाच ह

Transliteration

sa pṛṣṭaḥ kauśikaḥ satyaṃ vacanaṃ tān uvāca ha

Translation

When questioned, Kauśika spoke to them a truthful statement—upholding the ethic of truthfulness even under pressure, and setting the stage for the moral tension between speaking truth and preventing harm.

Word by Word

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पृष्टः: asked
• पृष्टः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: पृच्छ्
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कौशिकः: Kaushika (name/patronymic)
• कौशिकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौशिक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सत्यम्: truth
• सत्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्य
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• वचनम्: speech; statement
• वचनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वचन
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• तान्: them
• तान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• उवाच: said; spoke
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• ह: indeed; (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ह

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kauśika

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds satya (truthfulness) as a dharmic commitment, while implicitly raising the ethical question of how truth should be spoken when consequences may involve harm.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kauśika is questioned by others, and he responds by stating what is true; the narration emphasizes the act of truthful speech as a decisive moment in the unfolding moral situation.