Shloka 44

Devanagari script

त॑ चापि दग्ध्वा तपनीयचित्रं किरीटमाकृष्य तदर्जुनस्य । इयेष गन्तुं पुनरेव तूणं दृष्टश्न कर्णेन ततो5ब्रवीत्‌ तम्‌

Transliteration

taṁ cāpi dagdhvā tapanīya-citraṁ kirīṭam ākṛṣya tad arjunasya | iyeṣa gantuṁ punar eva tūṇaṁ dṛṣṭaś ca karṇena tato 'bravīt tam ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Having seized Arjuna’s crown—bright and variegated with the sheen of refined gold—the serpent scorched it with his venom-fire. He then wished to slip back again into Karṇa’s quiver; but Karṇa noticed him, and the serpent spoke to him. The moment underscores how, amid the fury of battle, hidden agents and personal enmities intrude upon the warrior’s duty, and how vigilance becomes an ethical necessity in war where deception and sudden reversals are constant.

Word by Word

• {'taṁ (tam)': 'him/that (referring to the crown/that object in context)', 'cāpi': 'and also', 'dagdhvā': 'having burned/scorched', 'tapanīya': 'refined gold', 'citra': 'variegated, wondrous, ornate', 'kirīṭa': 'crown, diadem, helmet-crest', 'ākṛṣya': 'having pulled/dragged, having seized', 'tad': 'that', 'arjunasya': 'of Arjuna', 'iyeṣa': 'he desired/wished/intended', 'gantum': 'to go', 'punar eva': 'again indeed', 'tūṇam': 'quiver', 'dṛṣṭaḥ': 'seen/noticed', 'karṇena': 'by Karṇa', 'tataḥ': 'then/thereupon', 'abravīt': 'said/spoke', 'viṣāgni (implied by context)': 'fire of venom

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Arjuna
• Karṇa
• serpent (Nāga)
• kirīṭa (Arjuna’s crown)
• tūṇa (Karṇa’s quiver)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even in a righteous cause, war becomes a field where hidden motives and sudden stratagems arise; therefore a warrior’s dharma includes alertness and discernment, not merely strength. The verse highlights how vigilance checks covert harm and how personal vendettas can surface amid collective conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

A serpent seizes Arjuna’s golden, ornate crown and burns it with venomous heat, then tries to return into Karṇa’s quiver. Karṇa notices the serpent, and the serpent begins to speak to him, setting up the next exchange about its intent and hostility toward Arjuna.