Shloka 28

सूर्य–कर्णोपदेशः

Sūrya’s Counsel to Karṇa on Kīrti and the Kuṇḍala

Devanagari script

नावो न सन्ति सेनाया बह्वदयस्तारयितुं तथा । वणिजामुपघातं च कथमस्मद्विधश्चरेत्‌,“इतनी बड़ी सेनाको पार उतारनेके लिये हमलोगोंके पास अधिक नौकाएँ भी नहीं हैं। (यदि कहें, व्यापारियोंके जहाजोंसे काम लिया जाय, तो) मेरे-जैसा पुरुष अपने स्वार्थके लिये व्यापारियोंके व्यवसायको हानि कैसे पहुँचा सकता है?

Transliteration

nāvo na santi senāyā bahv-ādyās tārayituṃ tathā | vaṇijām upaghātaṃ ca katham asmad-vidhaś caret ||

Translation

“Để đưa một đạo quân lớn như thế sang bờ bên kia, chúng ta cũng không có đủ thuyền bè. Còn nếu bảo mượn thuyền của giới thương nhân, thì một người như ta sao có thể vì việc riêng mà làm tổn hại sinh kế và nghiệp buôn của họ?”

Word by Word

• {'nāvaḥ (nāvo)': 'boats, ships', 'na santi': 'are not (available), do not exist', 'senāyāḥ (senāyā)': 'of the army', 'bahu-ādyāḥ (bahv-ādyās)': 'many and such (means), numerous resources of that kind', 'tārayitum': 'to ferry across, to carry over', 'tathā': 'thus, in that manner', 'vaṇijām': 'of merchants, traders', 'upaghātam': 'injury, damage, harm', 'ca': 'and', 'katham': 'how?', 'asmad-vidhaḥ': 'one like me, a person of my kind', 'caret': 'could act, should behave'}

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• senā (army)
• nāvaḥ (boats/ships)
• vaṇijaḥ (merchants/traders)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even in urgent or large-scale undertakings, one should not pursue success by harming innocent livelihoods; righteous means (dharma) constrain practical choices.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya explains a practical obstacle—insufficient boats to transport a huge army—and rejects the alternative of commandeering merchants’ ships because it would damage their trade and be ethically improper.