Shloka 62

Devanagari script

कि नु शक्‍्यं मया कर्तु कार्य यदिदमुद्यतम्‌

Transliteration

ki nu śakyaṃ mayā kartuṃ kāryaṃ yad idam udyatam

Translation

Sañjaya dit : «Que puis-je donc faire, en vérité—quel devoir, quelle tâche est en mon pouvoir—au sujet de cette entreprise désormais engagée ?»

Word by Word

• किम्: what
• किम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, singular

• नु: indeed/then (interrogative particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नु

• शक्यम्: possible/feasible
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शक्य
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• मया: by me
• मया: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: instrumental, singular

• कर्तुम्: to do
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: infinitive (tumun)

• कार्यम्: the task/what is to be done
• कार्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कार्य
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, singular

• यत्: which/that
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, singular

• इदम्: this
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, singular

• उद्यम्: effort/undertaking
• Type: Noun
• Root: उद्यम
• Form: masculine, nominative/accusative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line highlights the tension between duty and capacity: when a grave undertaking is already underway, one must ask what action is truly possible and appropriate for oneself—an ethical reflection on agency, responsibility, and limits.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, as narrator and messenger, voices uncertainty about what he can do in the face of a momentous course of events already initiated, framing the scene with a sense of urgency and constrained choice amid the unfolding war.