Shloka 21
Adhyāya 118: Saciva-parīkṣā
Testing and Appointment of Ministers/Servants
व्याप्रान्नागो मदपटुर्नाग: सिंहत्वमागतः । सिंहस्त्वं बलमापन्नो भूय: शरभतां गत:,“अरे! तू पहले कुत्ता था, फिर चीता बना, चीतेसे बाघकी योनिमें आया, बाघसे मदोन्मत्त हाथी हुआ, हाथीसे सिंहकी योनिमें आ गया, बलवान् सिंह रहकर फिर शरभका शरीर पा गया
vyāprān nāgo madapaṭur nāgaḥ siṁhatvam āgataḥ | siṁhas tvaṁ balam āpanno bhūyaḥ śarabhātāṁ gataḥ ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Vom Elefanten—ruhelos und kundig in der Raserei der Brunft—wurdest du zum Löwen. Und du, zum Löwen geworden und mit großer Kraft versehen, gingst wiederum weiter und gelangtest in den Zustand eines Śarabha.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the progression into increasingly powerful forms (elephant → lion → śarabha) to imply that the pursuit of sheer strength and dominance can keep intensifying, yet without inner restraint it does not culminate in righteousness. True dharma requires self-mastery, not merely greater power.
Bhishma addresses someone (implicitly a being/person under discussion) by describing a chain of transformations into stronger creatures—first an elephant in rut, then a lion, and then the even mightier śarabha—using this as a moral illustration about the dynamics of power and the dangers of unchecked pride.