Shloka 40

Devanagari script

शिरांसि च महाराज कर्णाश्रैव सकुण्डलान्‌

Transliteration

śirāṃsi ca mahārāja karṇāś caiva sakuṇḍalān

Translation

Sañjaya said: “And, O great king, there lay heads as well—ears too—still bearing their earrings.”

Word by Word

• शिरांसि: heads
• शिरांसि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिरस्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• कर्णानि: ears
• कर्णानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्ण
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• सकुण्डलान्: with earrings
• सकुण्डलान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सकुण्डल
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• kuṇḍala (earrings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the stark impermanence of bodily life and worldly adornment: even ornaments like earrings remain on severed ears, showing how quickly status and beauty are rendered meaningless by violence. It implicitly cautions rulers about the ethical weight and human cost of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is describing the battlefield scene to Dhṛtarāṣṭra. He reports gruesome details—severed heads and ears still wearing earrings—emphasizing the scale of slaughter and the horrific aftermath of the fighting in the Karṇa Parva.