Shloka 15

Devanagari script

अलर्क उवाच स्पृष्टवा त्वग्विविधान्‌ स्पर्शास्तानेव प्रतिगृध्यति । तस्मात्‌ त्वचं पाटयिष्ये विविध: कड़कपत्रिभि:,अलर्कने कहा--यह त्वचा नाना प्रकारके स्पर्शोका अनुभव करके फिर उन्हींकी अभिलाषा किया करती है, अतः नाना प्रकारके बाणोंसे मारकर इस त्वचाको ही विदीर्ण कर डालूँगा

Transliteration

alarka uvāca spṛṣṭvā tvagvividhān sparśās tān eva pratigṛdhyati | tasmāt tvacaṁ pāṭayiṣye vividhaḥ kaḍakapatribhiḥ ||

Translation

Alarka said: “Having experienced many kinds of tactile pleasures, this skin only longs for those very sensations again. Therefore I shall tear this skin apart—rending it with many kinds of arrows—so that craving, rooted in touch, may be cut down.”

Word by Word

अलर्कःAlarka

उवाचsaid

स्पृष्ट्वाhaving touched

त्वक्the skin

विविधान्various

स्पर्शान्touches, tactile sensations

तान्those

एवindeed, just

प्रतिगृध्यतिcraves, longs for

तस्मात्therefore, from that reason

त्वचम्the skin

पाटयिष्येI will cause to be torn / I will rend

विविधैःwith various

कड़कपत्रिभिःwith arrows having hard/keen wings (feathered shafts)

Speaker

अलर्क उवाच

Characters & Entities

Alarka

skin (tvak)

tactile contacts/pleasures (sparśa)

arrows

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Craving repeatedly re-arises from sense-contact; therefore one should restrain the senses and uproot attachment to pleasure. The verse dramatizes the ethical point that indulgence strengthens desire, while disciplined detachment aims to end it.

What is happening in the narrative?

Alarka reflects on how the skin, after tasting many pleasures of touch, keeps yearning for them again. In a severe ascetic resolve, he declares he will rend the skin with arrows—an extreme image expressing his determination to conquer desire rooted in sensory experience.