Shloka 20
अग्राह्य-ज्ञातिसंबन्धमण्डल-विवेचनम् / Managing Unreadable Kinship Networks: Vāsudeva–Nārada on Cohesion
वायुदेव उवाच अनायसं मुने शस्त्र मृदु विद्यामहं कथम् | येनैषामुद्धरे जिह्नलां परिमृज्यानुमृज्य च,भगवान् श्रीकृष्णने कहा--मुने! बिना लोहेके बने हुए उस कोमल शस्त्रको मैं कैसे जानूँ, जिसके द्वारा परिमार्जज और अनुमार्जज करके इन सबकी जिह्ठलाको उखाड़ लूँ
vāyudeva uvāca | anāyasaṁ mune śastraṁ mṛdu vidyām ahaṁ katham | yenaiṣām uddhare jihvalāṁ parimṛjyānumṛjya ca |
Vāyudeva sprach: „O Weiser, wie soll ich jene sanfte Waffe kennen, die nicht aus Eisen gemacht ist? Durch welches Mittel könnte ich die Krümmung ihrer Zungen ausreißen — indem ich sie immer wieder reinige und glätte?“
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the metaphor of a “soft, non-iron weapon” to suggest that certain moral faults—especially those expressed through speech—are not corrected by force but by gentle, repeated refinement: cleansing, restraint, and disciplined cultivation of truthful, non-harmful words.
Vāyudeva addresses a sage and asks how he could recognize or employ a non-material, gentle ‘weapon’ capable of uprooting the crookedness of people’s tongues. The imagery of wiping and polishing indicates a process of reform through repeated ethical instruction and self-correction rather than physical punishment.