Shloka 41

कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०

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

Devanagari script

उत्पत्योत्पत्य च मुहुर्मुहृ्तमिति चेति च । वृक्षाग्रेभ्य: स्थलेभ्यश्व निपतन्त्युतन्ति च

Transliteration

utpatyotpatya ca muhur muhur iti ceti ca | vṛkṣāgrebhyaḥ sthalebhyaś ca nipatanty utthanti ca ||

Translation

天鹅说道：“他们一次又一次地跃起，又一次又一次地哀号‘哀哉，哀哉！’——从树梢坠下，从地上跌落，而后又再度腾起。”其伦理旨趣在于描绘：愚昧与误判所招致的恐惧与躁动，循环往复；缺乏定力与明辨者，便在骤起与骤落之间被抛掷，每次哀叹，却仍重蹈旧辙。

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.