Shloka 15

कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०

Karṇa’s Pressure on the Pāñcālas; Duryodhana Disabled; Arjuna’s Counter-Advance

Devanagari script

अथ हंसा: समुद्रान्ते कदाचिदतिपातिन:

Transliteration

atha haṃsāḥ samudrānte kadācid atipātinaḥ

Translation

Dijo Sañjaya: Luego, a la orilla del océano, en cierta ocasión, aparecieron cisnes —aves de vuelo veloz— como una escena de presagio dentro del relato que se desplegaba.

Word by Word

• अथ: then/now
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• हंसाः: swans
• हंसाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: हंस
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• समुद्रान्ते: at the sea-shore / at the end of the ocean
• समुद्रान्ते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: समुद्रान्त
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• कदाचित्: once/sometime
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कदाचित्

• अतिपातिनः: flying swiftly / passing over (very fast)
• अतिपातिनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अतिपातिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• haṃsa (swans)
• samudra (ocean/sea)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a brief natural image—swift swans by the seashore—to set an omen-like or reflective tone, reminding the listener that in the midst of war, signs in nature and moments of observation can frame human action within a larger moral and cosmic order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya introduces a scene: swans, described as very swift in flight, are seen at the ocean’s edge on a certain occasion. This functions as a transitional or atmospheric detail within the ongoing account of events in Karṇa Parva.