Shloka 7

Devanagari script

कार्याकार्य न जानीषे कालपक्वो<5स्यसंशयम्‌ | बह्नबद्धमकर्णीयं को हि ब्रूयाज्जिजीविषु:,तुम्हें कर्तव्य और अकर्तव्यका कुछ भी ज्ञान नहीं है। निःसंदेह तुम्हें कालने पका दिया है। (अतः तुम पके हुए फलके समान गिरनेवाले ही हो); अन्यथा जो जीवित रहना चाहता है, ऐसा कौन पुरुष ऐसी बहुत-सी न सुननेयोग्य ऊटपटांग बातें कह सकता है?

Transliteration

kāryākāryaṁ na jānīṣe kālapakvo ’sy asaṁśayam | bahnibaddham akarṇīyaṁ ko hi brūyāj jijīviṣuḥ ||

Translation

कर्तव्य-अकर्तव्य याचे तुला काहीच भान नाही. निःसंशय काळाने तुला मृत्यूसाठी पिकवले आहे—गळून पडण्यास सिद्ध फळासारखे. नाहीतर जो जगू इच्छितो, तो कोण पुरुष इतक्या कठोर, न ऐकण्याजोग्या, निरर्थक गोष्टी बोलेल?

Word by Word

कार्यwhat ought to be done (duty)

अकार्यwhat ought not to be done (improper act)

नnot

जानीषेyou know

कालपक्वःripened by Time (i.e., doomed by fate)

असिyou are

संशयम्doubt

बहुmuch, many

अबद्धम्unconnected, incoherent

अकर्णीयम्not fit to be heard

कःwho?

हिindeed, for

ब्रूयात्would say / should say

जिजीविषुःdesirous of living

Speaker

शल्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śalya

Kāla (Time/Death)

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

What is the core teaching?

Right judgment (knowing kārya vs. akārya) and disciplined speech are ethical necessities; reckless, abusive, or senseless talk is portrayed as self-destructive and contrary to the instinct for self-preservation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Karṇa Parva war setting, Śalya delivers a sharp reprimand to his interlocutor, accusing him of lacking discernment and implying that his reckless words show he is already “ripened by Time,” i.e., destined to fall in death.