Shloka 42

Devanagari script

अद्याहमनुगान्‌ कृष्ण कर्णस्य कृपणान्‌ युधि

Transliteration

adyāham anugān kṛṣṇa karṇasya kṛpaṇān yudhi

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Today, O Kṛṣṇa, I beheld in battle the wretched followers of Karṇa.”

Word by Word

• अद्य: today
• अद्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य
• Form: Avyaya (time adverb)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Pronoun; masculine/feminine; nominative; singular

• अनुगान्: followers, attendants
• अनुगान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनुग
• Form: Masculine; accusative; plural

• कृष्ण: O Krishna
• कृष्ण: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्ण
• Form: Masculine; vocative; singular

• कर्णस्य: of Karna
• कर्णस्य: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्ण
• Form: Masculine; genitive; singular

• कृपणान्: wretched, pitiable
• कृपणान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृपण
• Form: Masculine; accusative; plural

• युधि: in battle
• युधि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: युध्
• Form: Feminine; locative; singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kṛṣṇa
• Karṇa
• Karṇa's followers

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line underscores the ethical cost of war and misguided allegiance: followers who attach themselves to a doomed or unrighteous course become ‘kṛpaṇa’—pitiable—revealing how leadership and chosen loyalties shape one’s fate and dignity in dharma-yuddha.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Kṛṣṇa what he has witnessed on the battlefield: Karṇa’s supporting warriors are seen in a pitiable condition, implying they are being overwhelmed or reduced to helplessness amid the day’s fighting.