Mahabharata — Stree Parva, Shloka 39
स्त्रीपर्व १: धृतराष्ट्रशोकः संजयाश्वासनं च
Strī Parva 1: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Saṃjaya’s Consolation
स्वयमुत्पादयित्वाग्निं वस्त्रेण परिवेष्टयन् । दहाुमानो मनस्तापं भजते न स पण्डित:
svayam utpādayitvāgniṁ vastreṇa pariveṣṭayan | dahyamāno manastāpaṁ bhajate na sa paṇḍitaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “A man who himself kindles a fire, wraps it in cloth, and then—when it burns him—suffers inward anguish, cannot be called wise.”
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Wisdom includes foresight and restraint: one should not create the very cause of one’s own harm and then lament. Self-inflicted trouble followed by regret is presented as a mark of folly, not learning.
In the opening of Strī Parva, Vaiśaṃpāyana uses a vivid analogy—kindling fire and wrapping it in cloth—to comment on avoidable, self-generated suffering, aligning the listener’s attention toward responsibility for actions and their consequences.
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