Shloka 14

Śalya Appointed as Karṇa’s Sārathi; Discourse on Praise, Blame, and Beneficial Counsel (कर्णस्य शल्यसारथ्यं तथा स्तवनिन्दाविचारः)

Devanagari script

व्यावर्तये रथं तूर्ण नदीवेगमिवार्णवात्‌

Transliteration

vyāvartaye rathaṁ tūrṇaṁ nadīvegam ivārṇavāt

Translation

संजय म्हणाला—मी रथ झटपट परत वळविला, जसा समुद्राकडे धावणारा नदीचा प्रवाह वळवावा।

Word by Word

• व्यावर्तये: I turn back / I wheel around
• व्यावर्तये: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्यावर्तय् (√वृत् caus.)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), उत्तम, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• रथम्: chariot
• रथम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• तूर्णम्: swiftly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तूर्ण

• नदीवेगम्: the river’s current
• Type: Noun
• Root: नदीवेग
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• इव: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• अर्णवात्: from the ocean
• अर्णवात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्णव
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• ratha (chariot)
• nadī (river)
• ārṇava (ocean/sea)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid overwhelming forces—like a river rushing to the sea—timely and resolute intervention can redirect events. The verse highlights human agency and strategic decisiveness in a moral and martial crisis.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a rapid maneuver: the chariot is turned back at once. The simile of diverting a river-current from the ocean conveys both speed and the difficulty of reversing a powerful course once it has gathered momentum.