Karna Parva Adhyaya 38 Shloka 7 - Mahabharata | Thai | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 7

Kṛpa’s Archery Display; Śikhaṇḍin Checked; Suketu Slain; Dhṛṣṭadyumna–Kṛtavarmā Clash (कृपशौर्य–पार्षतहार्दिक्ययुद्धम्)

Devanagari script

कार्याकार्य न जानीषे कालपक्वो<5स्यसंशयम्‌ | बह्नबद्धमकर्णीयं को हि ब्रूयाज्जिजीविषु:

Transliteration

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

Translation

เจ้ามิได้รู้เลยว่าอะไรควรทำ อะไรไม่ควรทำ แน่แท้กาลได้ทำให้เจ้าสุกงอมเพื่อความตาย—ดุจผลไม้ที่พร้อมจะร่วง มิฉะนั้น ชายใดที่ยังปรารถนาจะมีชีวิตอยู่ จะกล่าวถ้อยคำหยาบกร้าน ไม่น่าฟัง และไร้สาระมากมายเช่นนี้ได้อย่างไร

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.