Shloka 15

कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०

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

Devanagari script

अथ हंसा: समुद्रान्ते कदाचिदतिपातिन:

Transliteration

atha haṃsāḥ samudrānte kadācid atipātinaḥ

Translation

Sañjaya nói: Rồi một lần, nơi bờ biển, có những con thiên nga—loài chim bay vút—hiện ra như một cảnh tượng mang điềm báo trong dòng truyện đang mở ra.

Word by Word

• अथ: then/now
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• हंसाः: swans
• हंसाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: हंस
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• समुद्रान्ते: at the sea-shore / at the end of the ocean
• समुद्रान्ते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: समुद्रान्त
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• कदाचित्: once/sometime
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कदाचित्

• अतिपातिनः: flying swiftly / passing over (very fast)
• अतिपातिनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अतिपातिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• haṃsa (swans)
• samudra (ocean/sea)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a brief natural image—swift swans by the seashore—to set an omen-like or reflective tone, reminding the listener that in the midst of war, signs in nature and moments of observation can frame human action within a larger moral and cosmic order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya introduces a scene: swans, described as very swift in flight, are seen at the ocean’s edge on a certain occasion. This functions as a transitional or atmospheric detail within the ongoing account of events in Karṇa Parva.