Shloka 53

Aśvatthāman’s Arrow-Screen and the Confrontation with Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रौणि–युधिष्ठिर-संग्रामः)

Devanagari script

मित्रप्रतीक्षया शल्य धृतराष्ट्रस्य चोभयो:

Transliteration

mitrapratīkṣayā śalya dhṛtarāṣṭrasya cobhayoḥ

Translation

迦尔那说道：“噢，舍利耶，出于对友谊的顾念——也出于对持国王在两方面的顾念——……”

Word by Word

• मित्रप्रतीक्षया: by/through waiting for a friend (ally)
• मित्रप्रतीक्षया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मित्रप्रतीक्षा
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• शल्य: O Śalya
• शल्य: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शल्य
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• धृतराष्ट्रस्य: of Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• धृतराष्ट्रस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: धृतराष्ट्र
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• उभयोः: of both (parties/men)
• उभयोः: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun/Adjective
• Root: उभ
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Dual

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Karna
• Śalya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line foregrounds the ethical weight of loyalty: Karna frames his stance as guided by consideration for friendship and by regard for the Kuru king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, suggesting that personal bonds and obligations to authority shape choices even amid war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Karna addresses Śalya directly and begins to justify or motivate his position by invoking two pressures—friendship/ally-regard and concern for Dhṛtarāṣṭra—setting up the reasoning for what he is about to say or do in the surrounding passage.