Shloka 31
Adhyāya 128 — Proposal to Restrain Keśava; Sātyaki’s Warning and Vidura–Dhṛtarāṣṭra Counsel
क्षुद्राक्षेणेव जालेन झषावपिहितावुभौ । कामक्रोधौ शरीरस्थीौ प्रज्ञानं तौ विलुम्पत:
kṣudrākṣeṇeva jālena jhaṣāv apihitāv ubhau | kāmakrodhau śarīrasthau prajñānaṃ tau vilumpataḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Like two fish covered over by a net with tiny openings, desire and anger lie concealed within the body; and those two plunder a person’s discernment, stripping away true understanding.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Desire (kāma) and anger (krodha) are internal forces that quietly overpower a person and rob them of prajñāna—clear discernment—thereby leading to unethical choices and loss of dharmic judgment.
Vaiśampāyana delivers a moral observation using a vivid simile: just as fish are trapped under a fine-meshed net, human beings are trapped from within by desire and anger, which then undermine their capacity to understand and act rightly.