Shloka 22

Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)

Devanagari script

पीडितस्य किमद्वारमुत्पथो विधृतस्य च । अद्वारत: प्रद्रवति यदा भवति पीडित:,आपदग्रस्त मनुष्यके लिये कौन-सा द्वार नहीं है? (वह जिस ओरसे निकल भागे, वही उसके लिये द्वार है)। कैदीके लिये कौन-सा बुरा मार्ग है (वह बिना मार्गके भी भागकर आत्मरक्षा कर सके तो ऐसा प्रयत्न कर सकता है)। मनुष्य जब आपकत्तिमें घिरा होता है तब वह बिना दरवाजेके भी भाग निकलता है

Transliteration

pīḍitasya kim advāram utpatho vidhṛtasya ca | advārataḥ pradravati yadā bhavati pīḍitaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “For a man crushed by calamity, what place is ‘without an exit’? And for one held in confinement, what path is truly ‘forbidden’? When a person is driven to extremity, he will flee even through what is no door at all.”

Word by Word

पीडितस्यof the afflicted/distressed (person)

किम्what?

अद्वारम्not a door / no door (i.e., what is not a way out?)

उत्पथःa wrong path / bypath

विधृतस्यof one who is held/kept in custody

चand

अद्वारतःfrom/through a doorless place; even without a door

प्रद्रवतिruns forth / escapes

यदाwhen

भवतिbecomes / is

पीडितःafflicted/distressed (person)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

In extreme distress, people prioritize survival and will find or create an exit even where none seems to exist; likewise, one under restraint may take unconventional routes. The verse highlights how calamity compresses choices and pushes humans toward desperate, improvised action.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on statecraft and dharma. Here he offers a pragmatic observation about behavior under danger: when afflicted, a person escapes by any means, even through ‘doorless’ places or ‘improper’ paths.