Shloka 486
विदूरपातात् तोयस्य कि पुनः कर्ण वायस: । सूतपुत्र कर्ण! समुद्रमें विचरनेवाले मनुष्य भी उसकी गम्भीरताके कारण दिशाओंद्वारा आवृत उसकी जलराशिकी थाह नहीं जान पाते, फिर वह कौआ कुछ दूरतक उड़ने मात्रसे उस समुद्रके जलसमूहका पार कैसे पा सकता था?
vidūrapātāt toyasya ki punaḥ karṇa vāyasaḥ | sūtaputra karṇa! samudre vicaranevāle manuṣyā api tasya gambhīratayā diśāṃ-dvārā āvṛtāṃ tasya jalarāśeḥ thāhaṃ na jānanti, punaḥ sa vāyasaḥ kevalaṃ kiñcid dūraṃ uḍḍīyaiva kathaṃ tasya samudrajala-samūhasya pāraṃ prāpnoti?
The Swan said: “If even from a great distance one cannot gauge the water’s depth, then what hope is there for a crow, O Karṇa? O Karṇa, son of a charioteer—men who roam upon the ocean still cannot fathom its waters, for its vastness and depth seem to veil it on every side. How then could that crow, merely by flying a little way, ever reach the far shore of such an ocean?”
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches discernment and humility: one should not presume to accomplish what exceeds one’s capacity. The ocean symbolizes an immense, profound undertaking; the crow symbolizes limited ability and overconfidence. True wisdom recognizes scale, depth, and one’s proper measure before attempting to ‘reach the far shore.’
A Swan addresses Karṇa with a pointed metaphor. It argues that even experienced humans cannot fathom the ocean’s depth, so a mere crow cannot cross it by flying a short distance. The speech functions as a warning to Karṇa against misplaced confidence in confronting something vast and unfathomable.