Shloka 41

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

وہ بار بار اچھلتے ہیں اور بار بار ‘ہائے، ہائے’ پکار اٹھتے ہیں؛ کبھی درختوں کی چوٹیوں سے، کبھی زمین سے گرتے ہیں اور پھر اٹھ کر اڑ جاتے ہیں۔

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.