Shloka 21
काकोपमोपदेशः
The Crow-and-Swan Exemplum as Counsel to Karṇa
Devanagari script
प्रतिविव्याध त॑ तूर्ण तव पुत्रो महीपति:
Transliteration
prativivyādha taṁ tūrṇaṁ tava putro mahīpatiḥ
Translation
Sañjaya berkata: Wahai penguasa bumi, putramu dengan segera membalas serangan itu; di tengah laga, ketika keberanian dan tekad diuji dan dharma perang kian runtuh, ia menjawab pukulan dengan pukulan.
Word by Word
प्रतिविव्याधpierced, struck
प्रतिविव्याध:
TypeVerb
Rootवि-व्यध् (धातु: व्यध्)
FormPerfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada
तूर्णम्swiftly
तूर्णम्:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootतूर्ण
तवof you, your
तव:
TypePronoun
Rootयुष्मद्
Form—, Genitive, Singular
पुत्रःson
पुत्रः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootपुत्र
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
महीपतिःking (lord of the earth)
महीपतिः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootमहीपति
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
Speaker
संजय उवाच
Characters & Entities
S
SañjayaD
Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by address mahīpatiḥ and 'your')T
tava putraḥ (Duryodhana / Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son, context-dependent)Character Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Meter (Chandas)
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of immediate response and steadfastness in combat, while implicitly pointing to the tragic moral tension of war: skill and duty operate within a larger field of destructive retaliation.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that his son quickly delivers a counterstrike, indicating an ongoing exchange of blows between warriors in the Karṇa Parva battle sequence.