Shloka 41

कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०

Karṇa’s Pressure on the Pāñcālas; Duryodhana Disabled; Arjuna’s Counter-Advance

Devanagari script

उत्पत्योत्पत्य च मुहुर्मुहृ्तमिति चेति च । वृक्षाग्रेभ्य: स्थलेभ्यश्व निपतन्त्युतन्ति च,इति श्रीमहाभारते कर्णपर्वणि कर्णशल्यसंवादे हंसकाकीयोपाख्याने एकचत्वारिंशो5 ध्याय: इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत कर्णपर्वमें कर्ण-शल्य-संवादके अन्तर्गत हंसकाकीयोपाख्यान- विषयक इकतालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

utpatyotpatya ca muhur muhur iti ceti ca | vṛkṣāgrebhyaḥ sthalebhyaś ca nipatanty utthanti ca ||

Translation

Лебедь сказал: «Снова и снова они взмывают, и снова и снова кричат: “увы, увы!” — падая то с верхушек деревьев, то с земли, а затем вновь поднимаясь». По нравственному смыслу эта строка рисует беспокойный круг страха и смятения, рождаемый глупостью и неверным суждением: лишённый стойкости и различения мечется между внезапными взлётами и внезапными падениями, каждый раз стеная и всё же повторяя одно и то же.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'utpatyotpatya', 'gloss': 'leaping up repeatedly

• rising again and again'}, {'term': 'muhur muhuḥ', 'gloss': 'again and again

• time after time'}, {'term': 'iti', 'gloss': 'thus

• indicating quoted speech/thought'}, {'term': 'ceti', 'gloss': 'and ‘ce’

• an exclamation/cry (lamenting sound)'}, {'term': 'vṛkṣāgra', 'gloss': 'tree-top

• the summit of a tree'}, {'term': 'sthala', 'gloss': 'ground

• level place'}, {'term': 'nipatanti', 'gloss': 'they fall down'}, {'term': 'utthanti', 'gloss': 'they rise up

Speaker

हंस उवाच

Characters & Entities

• हंस (Haṃsa, the Swan)
• वृक्ष (tree)
• वृक्षाग्र (tree-top)
• स्थल (ground)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the instability of those driven by confusion and poor judgment: they repeatedly rush forward, fall, lament, and yet repeat the same behavior. The implied counsel is steadiness (dhairya) and discernment (viveka) to avoid cyclical self-made suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Swan’s speech within the Haṃsa–Kākiya (swan-and-crow) episode, the speaker describes beings repeatedly leaping up and falling—crying out in distress—illustrating a pattern of agitation and repeated mishap used as a moral example in the broader Karṇa–Śalya dialogue.