Shloka 25

Devanagari script

यदि होन॑ नाहनिष्यत्‌ कर्ण: शक्‍्त्या महामृथे

Transliteration

yadi hon nāhaniṣyat karṇaḥ śaktyā mahāmṛdhe

Translation

ヴायुは言った。「もしあの大いなる戦において、カルナが『シャクティ』の武器で（彼を）討たなかったなら……。」

Word by Word

• यदि: if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि

• हो: indeed/then (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हो

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अहन्: day
• अहन्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अहन्: day
• अहन्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इष्यत्: would wish/seek (reading uncertain)
• Type: Verb
• Root: इष्
• Form: Conditional/Optative-like (uncertain reading), 3rd, Singular

• कर्णः: Karna
• कर्णः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्ण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शक्त्या: with the spear/weapon (śakti)
• शक्त्या: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शक्ति
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• महामृथे: in the great battle
• महामृथे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महामृध
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

श्रीवायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva
• Karṇa
• Śakti (weapon)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how the use of exceptional, often divinely empowered weapons can become a turning point that tests the ethical boundaries of warfare—inviting reflection on whether victory gained through such means aligns with the ideals of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva speaks hypothetically about a crucial battlefield outcome: Karṇa’s killing of an opponent using the Śakti weapon. The line frames a counterfactual—what the course of events might have been if that killing had not occurred.