Laurel · Vyasa · The Mahabharata (condensed)

The Advent of Karna

Vyasa (about 400 BC), translated by Romesh Chunder Dutt · 1899

trochaic octameter · rhyming couplets · 38 lines · from The Mahabharata (condensed)

Now the feats of arm are ended, and the closing hour draws nigh,Music's voice is hushed in silence, and dispersing crowds pass by,

Hark! Like welkin-shaking thunder wakes a deep and deadly sound,Clank and din of warlike weapons burst upon the tented ground!

Are the solid mountains splitting, is it bursting of the earth,Is it tempest's pealing accent whence the lightning takes its birth?

Thoughts like these alarm the people for the sound is dread and high,To the gate of the arena turns the crowd with anxious eye!

Gathered round preceptor Drona, Pandu's sons in armour bright,Like the five-starred constellation round the radiant Queen of Night,

Gathered round the proud Duryodhan, dreaded for his exploits done,All his brave and warlike brothers and preceptor Drona's son,

So the gods encircled INDRA, thunder-wielding, fierce and bold,When he scattered Danu's children in the misty days of old!

Pale, before the unknown warrior, gathered nations part in twain,Conqueror of hostile cities, lofty Karna treads the plain!

In his golden mail accoutred and his rings of yellow gold,Like a moving cliff in stature, armed comes the chieftain bold!

Pritha, yet unwedded, bore him, peerless archer on the earth,Portion of the solar radiance, for the Sun inspired his birth!

Like a tusker in his fury, like a lion in his ire,Like the sun in noontide radiance, like the all-consuming fire!

Lion-like in build and muscle, stately as a golden palm,Blessed with every very manly virtue, peerless warrior proud and calm!

With his looks serene and lofty field of war the chief surveyed,Scarce to Kripa or to Drona honour and obeisance made!

Still the panic-stricken people viewed him with unmoving gaze,Who may be this unknown warrior, questioned they in hushed amaze!

Then in voice of pealing thunder spake fair Pritha's eldest sonUnto Arjun, Pritha's youngest, each, alas! to each unknown!

"All thy feats of weapons, Arjun, done with vain and needless boast,These and greater I accomplish--witness be this mighty host!"

Thus spake proud and peerless Karna in his accents deep and loud,And as moved by sudden impulse leaped in joy the listening crowd!

And a gleam of mighty transport glows in proud Duryodhan's heart,Flames of wrath and jealous anger from the eyes of Arjun start!

Drona gave the word, and Karna, Pritha's war-beloving son,With his sword and with his arrows did the feats by Arjun done!

Words in this poem

welkin n.: The visible regions of the air; the vault of heaven; the sky. [OE. welken, welkene, welkne, wolcne, weolcne, AS. wolcen, pl. wolcnu, a cloud; akin to D. wolk, OFries. wolken, OS. wolkan, G. wolke, OHG. wolchan, and probably]
clank n.: A sharp, brief, ringing sound, made by a collision of metallic or other sonorous bodies; -- usually expressing a duller or less resounding sound than clang, and a deeper and stronger sound than clink. [Akin to clink, and of imitative origin; cf. G. klang sound, D. klank. Cf. Clang.]
tented a.: Covered with tents.
preceptor n.: One who gives commands, or makes rules; specifically, the master or principal of a school; a teacher; an instructor. [L. praeceptor, fr. praecipere to teach: cf. F. précepteur. See Precept.]
armour n.: Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
wielding n.: Power; authority; rule.
twain a.: Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
tusker n.: An elephant having large tusks.
noontide n.: The time of noon; midday. [From noon + tide time; cf. AS. n the ninth hour.]
scarce a.: Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
honour n.: Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
stricken p. p.: Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
amaze v. t.: To bewilder; to stupefy; to bring into a maze. [Pref. a- + maze.]
needless a.: Having no need.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Advent of Karna is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Mahabharata (condensed), Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, the Romesh Chunder Dutt translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Vyasa, The Advent of Karna, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/the-advent-of-karna.html, id L15758.

Form and metre

The Advent of Karna is 38 lines in 19 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 95% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.1 syllables.

See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic octameter.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 AA nigh^A · by^A
2 AA sound^A · ground^A
3 AA earth^A · birth^A
4 AA high^A · eye^A
5 AA bright^A · night^A
6 AA done^A · son^A
7 AA bold^A · old^A
8 AA twain^A · plain^A
9 AA gold^A · bold^A
10 AA earth^A · birth^A
11 AA ire^A · fire^A
12 AA palm^A · calm^A
13 AA surveyed^A · made^A
14 AA gaze^A · amaze^A
16 AA boast^A · host^A
17 AA loud^A · crowd^A
18 AA heart^A · start^A
19 AA son^A · done^A

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic octameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Now the feats of arm are ended, and the closing hour draws nigh,	15	······/˘··/˘/··
Music's voice is hushed in silence, and dispersing crowds pass by,	15	/˘····/˘·˘/˘···
Hark! Like welkin-shaking thunder wakes a deep and deadly sound,	15	··/˘/˘/˘····/˘·
Clank and din of warlike weapons burst upon the tented ground!	15	····/·/˘····/˘·
Are the solid mountains splitting, is it bursting of the earth,	15	··/˘/˘/˘··/˘···
Is it tempest's pealing accent whence the lightning takes its birth?	15	··/˘/˘/···/˘···
Thoughts like these alarm the people for the sound is dread and high,	15	···˘/·/˘·······
To the gate of the arena turns the crowd with anxious eye!	15	·····˘/˘····/˘·
Gathered round preceptor Drona, Pandu's sons in armour bright,	15	/˘·˘/˘······/˘·
Like the five-starred constellation round the radiant Queen of Night,	15	·····˘/˘··/˘···
Gathered round the proud Duryodhan, dreaded for his exploits done,	15	/˘······/˘··/··
All his brave and warlike brothers and preceptor Drona's son,	15	····/·/˘·˘/˘···
So the gods encircled INDRA, thunder-wielding, fierce and bold,	15	···˘/˘··/˘/˘···
When he scattered Danu's children in the misty days of old!	15	··/˘··/˘··/˘···
Pale, before the unknown warrior, gathered nations part in twain,	15	····˘//˘/˘/˘···
Conqueror of hostile cities, lofty Karna treads the plain!	15	/˘˘·/˘/˘/˘·····
In his golden mail accoutred and his rings of yellow gold,	15	··/˘········/˘·
Like a moving cliff in stature, armed comes the chieftain bold!	15	··/˘··/˘·˘··/˘·
Pritha, yet unwedded, bore him, peerless archer on the earth,	15	···˘/˘··/˘/˘···
Portion of the solar radiance, for the Sun inspired his birth!	15	/˘··/˘/˘···˘/··
Like a tusker in his fury, like a lion in his ire,	15	··/˘··/˘··/˘···
Like the sun in noontide radiance, like the all-consuming fire!	15	····/˘/˘···˘/˘/
Lion-like in build and muscle, stately as a golden palm,	15	/˘····/˘/˘··/˘·
Blessed with every very manly virtue, peerless warrior proud and calm!	17	··/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘···
With his looks serene and lofty field of war the chief surveyed,	15	···˘/·/˘·····˘/
Scarce to Kripa or to Drona honour and obeisance made!	15	········/˘·˘/˘·
Still the panic-stricken people viewed him with unmoving gaze,	15	··/˘/˘/˘·······
Who may be this unknown warrior, questioned they in hushed amaze!	15	····˘//˘/˘···˘/
Then in voice of pealing thunder spake fair Pritha's eldest son	15	····/˘/˘····/˘·
Unto Arjun, Pritha's youngest, each, alas! to each unknown!	15	······/˘·˘/··˘/
"All thy feats of weapons, Arjun, done with vain and needless boast,	15	····/˘······/˘·
These and greater I accomplish--witness be this mighty host!"	15	··/˘·˘/˘/˘··/˘·
Thus spake proud and peerless Karna in his accents deep and loud,	15	····/˘····/˘···
And as moved by sudden impulse leaped in joy the listening crowd!	15	····/˘/˘····/˘·
And a gleam of mighty transport glows in proud Duryodhan's heart,	15	····/˘/˘·······
Flames of wrath and jealous anger from the eyes of Arjun start!	15	····/˘/˘·······
Drona gave the word, and Karna, Pritha's war-beloving son,	15	···········/˘˘·
With his sword and with his arrows did the feats by Arjun done!	15	······/˘·······

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

More by Vyasa

The Mahabharata (condensed)