Shloka 16
अर्जुन-कर्ण-सङ्ग्रामः
Arjuna–Karna Engagement in the Cattle-Raid Aftermath
आत्मानं क: समुद्धद्ध्य कण्ठे बद्ध्वा महाशिलाम् | समुद्र तरते दोर्भ्या तत्र कि नाम पौरुषम्
ātmānaṃ kaḥ samuddhṛtya kaṇṭhe baddhvā mahāśilām | samudraṃ tarate dorbhyāṃ tatra kiṃ nāma pauruṣam ||
Kṛpa sagte: „Wer könnte sich selbst retten und den Ozean mit den Armen durchschwimmen, wenn er sich einen gewaltigen Stein an den eigenen Hals gebunden hat? Welche ‘Heldentat’ soll darin liegen? Das ist kein Mut – das ist Torheit.“
कृप उवाच
Educational Q&A
True valor is not self-destructive bravado. Deliberately taking on a crippling burden and then calling the resulting struggle ‘heroism’ is condemned as foolishness; wise action aligns effort with attainable, dharmic ends.
Kṛpa is offering counsel by using a vivid metaphor: trying to cross an ocean while a heavy stone is tied to one’s neck. He argues that such an act cannot be praised as pauruṣa (heroic effort) because it is knowingly self-sabotaging.