Shloka 25

Devanagari script

यदि होन॑ नाहनिष्यत्‌ कर्ण: शक्‍्त्या महामृथे

Transliteration

yadi hon nāhaniṣyat karṇaḥ śaktyā mahāmṛdhe

Translation

Vāyu berkata: “Jika Karṇa, dalam pertempuran besar itu, tidak membunuh (dia) dengan senjata Śakti…”

Word by Word

यदिif

होindeed/then (emphatic particle)

नnot

अहन्day

इष्यत्would wish/seek (reading uncertain)

कर्णःKarna

शक्त्याwith the spear/weapon (śakti)

महामृथेin the great battle

Speaker

श्रीवायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyudeva

Karṇa

Śakti (weapon)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

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.