Shloka 3

अर्जुन-कर्ण-सङ्ग्रामः

Arjuna–Karna Engagement in the Cattle-Raid Aftermath

Devanagari script

देशकालेन संयुक्त युद्धं विजयदं भवेत्‌ । हीनकालं तदेवेह फलं न लभते पुनः । देशे काले च विक्रान्तं कल्याणाय विधीयते

Transliteration

deśakālena saṁyuktaṁ yuddhaṁ vijayadaṁ bhavet | hīnakālaṁ tadeveha phalaṁ na labhate punaḥ | deśe kāle ca vikrāntaṁ kalyāṇāya vidhīyate ||

Translation

Kṛpa said: “A battle undertaken in harmony with place and time becomes a giver of victory. But that very same battle, if begun at an improper time, yields no result again. Valor exercised with due regard to place and time is what truly leads to welfare.”

Word by Word

• {'deśa': 'place, terrain, locality', 'kāla': 'time, season, occasion', 'deśakālena saṁyuktam': 'joined with (i.e., aligned to) place and time

• undertaken with strategic propriety', 'yuddham': 'battle, warfare', 'vijayadam': 'granting victory', 'bhavet': 'would be, becomes', 'hīna-kālam': 'deficient/unsuitable time

• ill-timed', 'tad eva': 'that very (same thing)', 'iha': 'here (in this world/this context)', 'phalam': 'fruit, outcome, result', 'na labhate': 'does not obtain', 'punaḥ': 'again, thereafter', 'vikrāntam': 'heroic effort, valor, prowess', 'kalyāṇāya': 'for welfare, for auspicious good', 'vidhīyate': 'is ordained/arranged

Speaker

कृप उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kṛpa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Success in warfare (and by extension in action) depends on aligning one’s effort with deśa (place/conditions) and kāla (time/occasion). Even justified force becomes fruitless if undertaken at the wrong moment; prudent timing and situational awareness are presented as ethically and practically necessary.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kṛpa offers counsel about when and how to engage in battle, emphasizing that victory and welfare come from acting with strategic propriety—choosing the right terrain and the right moment—rather than from mere aggression or untimely valor.