Shloka 30

अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः

Devanagari script

विसर्जयन्ति संहृष्टा: क्रीडमाना: कुमारका: । लूनपक्षतया तस्य गमन॑ नोपपद्यते

Transliteration

visarjayanti saṁhṛṣṭāḥ krīḍamānāḥ kumārakāḥ | lūnapakṣatayā tasya gamanaṁ nopapadyate ||

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Delighted and playful, little boys let it go free; but since its wings have been cut, it cannot truly go anywhere.”

Word by Word

विसर्जयन्तिthey release/let go

संहृष्टाःdelighted, excited

क्रीडमानाःplaying, sporting

कुमारकाःboys, young lads

लूनपक्षतयाby/owing to having clipped wings (wing-clipped state)

तस्यof him/its

गमनम्going, movement

नnot

उपपद्यतेis possible/occurs, is appropriate

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

kumārakāḥ (boys/children)

pakṣa (wings)

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?

A freedom that is granted after one has been crippled is not real freedom. The verse uses a simple image—children releasing a wing-clipped creature—to highlight the ethical emptiness of allowing action while having already removed the capacity to act.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks in a metaphorical register, describing playful boys releasing something whose wings have been cut; it cannot actually depart. In the war-context of Karṇa Parva, the image underscores helplessness and the futility of expecting meaningful movement or escape once the means have been destroyed.