Shloka 56

Devanagari script

स तु कर्णस्य तद्‌ दिव्यमस्त्रमस्त्रेण शातयन्‌

Transliteration

sa tu karṇasya tad divyam astram astreṇa śātayan

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: Namun ia menetralkan senjata surgawi milik Karna itu dengan senjata yang lain. Dalam dharma peperangan, daya ditangkis oleh daya; di sanalah kepiawaian dan pengendalian diri menentukan apakah kuasa menjadi pelindung atau sekadar pemusnah.

Word by Word

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• कर्णस्य: of Karna
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• दिव्यम्: divine
• दिव्यम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दिव्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• अस्त्रम्: weapon/missile
• अस्त्रम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• अस्त्रेण: with a weapon
• अस्त्रेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• शातयन्: destroying/neutralizing
• Type: Verb
• Root: शातय् (धातु; णिच्, शतृ-प्रत्यय)
• Form: वर्तमान (शतृ-प्रत्यय, परस्मैपदी-प्रयोगार्थ)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Karṇa
• divya astra (celestial weapon)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even extraordinary power (divya astra) must be met with discernment and proportional response; in the epic’s war-ethic, mastery is shown not only by possessing force but by controlling and countering it so that violence does not become unbounded.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Sañjaya’s report of the battle, an opponent counters Karṇa’s celestial missile by deploying another weapon, effectively blunting or nullifying Karṇa’s divya astra through astra-to-astra combat.