Shloka 44

Aśvatthāman’s Arrow-Screen and the Confrontation with Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रौणि–युधिष्ठिर-संग्रामः)

Devanagari script

आयुधानां साम्पराये यन्मुच्येयमहं तत:

Transliteration

āyudhānāṃ sāmparāye yan mucyeyam ahaṃ tataḥ

Translation

కర్ణుడు అన్నాడు: “అస్త్రశస్త్రాల తుదిసంఘర్షంలో, నన్ను బంధించిన ఆ బంధనంనుండి నేను విముక్తుడనగుదును గాక.”

Word by Word

• आयुधानाम्: of weapons
• आयुधानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आयुध
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• साम्पराये: in the battle / in the final encounter
• साम्पराये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: साम्पराय
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• यत्: which (that which)
• यत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• मुच्येयम्: may I be released / may I escape
• मुच्येयम्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच्
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), Atmanepada (passive sense), 1st, Singular

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अहम्
• Form: —, Nominative, Singular

• ततः: from that / thence
• ततः: Apadana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Karna
• āyudha (weapons)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the warrior’s inner struggle: in a decisive moment, one seeks liberation from inner bonds—fear, doubt, or the weight of past actions—so that one can act with clarity and steadfastness, even amid morally complex circumstances.

What is happening in the narrative?

Karna, speaking in the midst of the Karna Parva’s battle context, expresses a wish to be freed from whatever constrains him at the climactic confrontation of arms, underscoring his readiness to face the decisive phase of combat.