Shloka 26

कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०

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

Devanagari script

उड्डीनमवडीनं च प्रडीनं डीनमेव च । निडीनमथ संडीनं तिर्यक्‌ डीनगतानि च

Transliteration

uḍḍīnam avaḍīnaṃ ca praḍīnaṃ dīnam eva ca | niḍīnam atha saṃḍīnaṃ tiryak dīna-gatāni ca

Translation

“บินขึ้น บินลง บินไปข้างหน้า และแม้กระทั่งตกลงนอนแน่นิ่ง; เข้าสู่รัง จับกลุ่มรวมกัน และเคลื่อนไปในทางเฉียง—ทั้งหมดนี้ล้วนเป็นอาการและความเคลื่อนไหวของผู้ ‘ตกต่ำ’”

Word by Word

उड्डीनम्flown up; risen in flight

अवडीनम्flown down; descended in flight

चand

प्रडीनम्flown forth/forward

डीनम्flown; in flight

एवindeed; just

चand

निडीनम्flown down/into; settled down

अथthen; and further

संडीनम्flown together; converged/clustered in flight

तिर्यक्sideways; obliquely

डीन-गतानिmovements/paths of flight; goings while flying

चand

Speaker

काक उवाच

Characters & Entities

क

काक (Kāka, the crow)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a catalog of movements and states—rising, descending, wandering, nesting, clustering—to suggest that external motion or circumstance is variable and morally neutral; ethical value depends on inner steadiness and dharmic conduct rather than mere worldly position.

What is happening in the narrative?

The crow (Kāka) speaks in a didactic tone, listing different ‘courses’ or conditions observed among creatures, as part of a larger moral reflection meant to guide judgment and behavior amid changing fortunes.