Shloka 9
अव्यक्तकालमान-निर्णयः
Measures of Time from the Unmanifest; Creation, Elements, and the Primacy of Mind
वाक्सायका वदनान्निष्पतन्ति यैराहत: शोचति रात्र्यहानि । परस्य नामर्मसु ते पतन्ति तान् पण्डितो नावसूजेत् परेषु
vāksāyakā vadanān niṣpatanti yair āhataḥ śocati rātryahāni | parasya nāmarmasu te patanti tān paṇḍito nāvasūjet pareṣu ||
The Swan said: “Words are arrows that fly out from the mouth. Struck by them, a person grieves by night and by day. Since they fall upon another’s vulnerable points, a wise person should not hurl such verbal arrows at others.”
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
Speech can wound like an arrow and cause lasting sorrow; therefore, a wise person restrains harsh or piercing words, especially those that strike another’s vulnerabilities.
In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, the speaker ‘Haṃsa’ delivers moral instruction, using the metaphor of ‘word-arrows’ to warn against verbally harming others.