Shloka 46
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०
Karṇa’s Pressure on the Pāñcālas; Duryodhana Disabled; Arjuna’s Counter-Advance
निपतेयं क्व नु श्रान्त इति तस्मिज्जलार्णवे
nipateyaṁ kva nu śrānta iti tasmiñ jalārṇave
«Wenn ich ermüde, wo soll ich in diesem Ozean landen?» So begann die Krähe in der ungeheuren Wasserweite zu grübeln und zu bangen: «Das Meer, Wohnstatt zahlloser Wasserwesen, bietet mir keinen Zufluchtsort. Dieser große Ozean, erfüllt von unzähligen mächtigen Geschöpfen, erscheint weiter noch als der Himmel».
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights practical discernment: one should not enter an undertaking whose scale exceeds one’s capacity and offers no secure support. Anxiety arises when a being overreaches into an environment where it has no refuge.
In a dialogue attributed to the swan (Haṃsa), the crow reflects on the danger of the ocean: if it becomes tired mid-flight, there is nowhere to land, and the sea is filled with powerful aquatic beings. The scene uses the ocean as an image of an overwhelming domain lacking safety for the unfit.