Shloka 8
न सन्ति लोकेषु पुमांस ईदृशा इत्येव ये भावितबुद्धयः सदा । ज्ञास्यन्ति ते55त्मानमिमेडद्य पाण्डवा विपर्यये षण्ढतिला इवाफला:
Vaiśampāyana uvāca:
na santi lokeṣu pumāṁsa īdṛśā ity eva ye bhāvitabuddhayaḥ sadā |
jñāsyanti te ’tmānam ime ’dya pāṇḍavā viparyaye ṣaṇḍhatilā ivāphalāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana dijo: «Aquellos que siempre alimentaron la orgullosa convicción: “En los tres mundos no hay hombres como nosotros”,—esos mismos Pāṇḍavas, caídos ahora en la adversidad, se han vuelto como semillas de sésamo huecas, sin sustancia ni fruto. Hoy llegarán a conocer su verdadera condición».
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Arrogant self-assurance collapses when circumstances reverse; adversity exposes what is truly substantial. The verse warns against pride and highlights the ethical need for humility and self-knowledge.
In the context of the Sabha Parva’s unfolding humiliation and downfall, the speaker remarks that those who once believed themselves unmatched in the worlds—the Pāṇḍavas—have now been brought low by a reversal of fortune, becoming ‘hollow’ and powerless, and are forced to recognize their real situation.