Shloka 28

Devanagari script

अनृतं तत्‌ करिष्यन्ति मामका निशिता: शरा: । उद्योग: पाण्डुपुत्राणां समाप्तिमुपयास्यति,“अपने गुणोंकी प्रशंसा करते हुए सूतपुत्र कर्णने धृतराष्ट्रके पुत्रोंस जो यह कहा था कि 'मैं पाण्डवोंसे तुम्हारी रक्षा करूँगा" उसके इस कथनको मेरे तीखे बाण असत्य कर देंगे और पाण्डवोंका युद्धविषयक उद्योग समाप्त हो जायगा

Transliteration

anṛtaṃ tat kariṣyanti māmakā niśitāḥ śarāḥ | udyogaḥ pāṇḍuputrāṇāṃ samāptim upayāsyati ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “My sharp arrows will make that claim false; the warlike enterprise of the sons of Pāṇḍu will come to its end.” In context, the statement counters Karṇa’s self-assured promise to protect Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons, asserting that boastful assurances will be overturned by the hard fact of battle.

Word by Word

• {'anṛtam': 'falsehood

• untrue statement', 'tat': 'that (claim/statement)', 'kariṣyanti': 'will make

• will render (to be)', 'māmakāḥ': 'my

• belonging to me', 'niśitāḥ': 'sharpened

• keen-edged', 'śarāḥ': 'arrows', 'udyogaḥ': 'effort

• martial enterprise', 'pāṇḍuputrāṇām': 'of the sons of Pāṇḍu (the Pāṇḍavas)', 'samāptim': 'completion

• termination', 'upayāsyati': 'will approach

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Karṇa
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons (Kauravas)
• Pāṇḍu’s sons (Pāṇḍavas)
• arrows (śarāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the moral tension between confident speech and reality: proud assurances and self-praise can be exposed as untrue when tested by action. It also underscores how, in war, outcomes are decided not by claims but by capability, resolve, and the unfolding of destiny.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a battlefield assertion that Karṇa’s earlier promise to safeguard Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons will be disproved. The speaker declares that his keen arrows will negate that claim and bring the Pāṇḍavas’ martial undertaking to an end.