Shloka 4

Devanagari script

सेनाजीवाश्र ये राज्ञां विषये सन्ति मानवा:

Transliteration

senājīvāśraye rājñāṁ viṣaye santi mānavāḥ

Translation

Karṇa dit : «Dans le royaume d’un roi, il est des hommes dont la subsistance dépend de l’armée.»

Word by Word

• सेनाजीवाः: those who live by (serving) the army; soldiers/army-dependent men
• सेनाजीवाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सेनाजीव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• ये: who/which
• ये: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• राज्ञाम्: of kings
• राज्ञाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• विषये: in the realm/territory
• विषये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विषय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• सन्ति: are/exist
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: Present, Third, Plural

• मानवाः: men/people
• मानवाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Karna
• kings
• army
• realm/territory
• people

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Karna highlights a political-ethical reality: a king’s realm includes many dependents whose sustenance is tied to the military establishment, implying that decisions about war, policy, and patronage affect not only warriors but broader livelihoods.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Karna’s speech, he is making a point about the composition of a kingdom and the social dependence surrounding royal power—specifically that many people in the realm live by relying on the army.