Mahabharata 1.151.22 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 151, Shloka 22
बक-राक्षसस्य आह्वानम् तथा वृक्षयुद्धम्
Summons of Baka and the Tree-Weapon Engagement
अत: कष्टतरं कि नु द्रष्टव्यं हि भविष्यति । यत् पश्यामि महीसुप्तान् 20% सुमन्दभाक्
ataḥ kaṣṭataraṃ ki nu draṣṭavyaṃ hi bhaviṣyati | yat paśyāmi mahīsuptān sumandabhāk ||
قال فايشَمبايانا: «أيُّ منظرٍ يمكن أن يكون أشدَّ إيلامًا من هذا؟ فإني أرى إخوتي نائمين على الأرض العارية—وا حسرتاه، ما أشقى حظّي!» ويُفصح هذا السطر عن صدمةٍ أخلاقيةٍ من انقلاب الكرامة المستحقة: فمَن ينبغي أن يُصان ويُكرَّم قد أُنزِل إلى العناء، فتنبعث المراثي على القدر وهشاشة الأمان الدنيوي.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical pain caused when those bound by kinship and rightful dignity are brought to humiliation and hardship; it underscores compassion, the instability of fortune, and the moral urgency to protect one’s own from suffering.
The speaker laments that he is witnessing his brothers sleeping on the bare earth, and he rhetorically asks what could be more distressing than such a sight—framing the moment as a peak of misfortune and sorrow.
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