Shloka 8
समुद्रतरणं दोर्भ्या कण्ठे बद्ध्वा यथा शिलाम् | गिर्यग्राद् वा निपतनं तादूक् तव चिकीर्षितम्,जैसे कोई गलेमें पत्थर बाँधकर दोनों हाथोंसे समुद्र पार करना चाहे अथवा पहाड़की चोटीसे पृथ्वीपर कूदनेकी इच्छा करे, ऐसी ही तुम्हारी सारी चेष्टा और अभिलाषा है
samudrataraṇaṃ dorbhyāṃ kaṇṭhe baddhvā yathā śilām | giryagrād vā nipatanaṃ tādṛk tava cikīrṣitam |
Śalya said: “Your intended effort is like trying to cross the ocean by the strength of one’s arms while a stone is tied to the neck, or like wishing to leap down from a mountain peak to the earth. In the same way, your whole striving and desire are self-destructive and bound to fail.”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Śalya uses stark metaphors to warn that certain ambitions, driven by pride or misjudgment, become self-sabotaging: when one’s chosen course carries its own fatal burden, effort itself cannot bring success.
In the Karṇa Parva, Śalya addresses Karṇa in a sharp, admonitory tone, comparing Karṇa’s intended undertaking to impossible, ruinous acts—signaling that Karṇa’s plan in the battle is headed toward disaster.