Shloka 21
Adhyāya 118: Saciva-parīkṣā
Testing and Appointment of Ministers/Servants
व्याप्रान्नागो मदपटुर्नाग: सिंहत्वमागतः । सिंहस्त्वं बलमापन्नो भूय: शरभतां गत:
vyāprān nāgo madapaṭur nāgaḥ siṁhatvam āgataḥ | siṁhas tvaṁ balam āpanno bhūyaḥ śarabhātāṁ gataḥ ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: “De ser un elefante—inquieto y diestro en el furor del celo—te convertiste en león. Y tú, hecho león y alcanzada gran fuerza, volviste a pasar adelante hasta el estado de śarabha.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the progression into increasingly powerful forms (elephant → lion → śarabha) to imply that the pursuit of sheer strength and dominance can keep intensifying, yet without inner restraint it does not culminate in righteousness. True dharma requires self-mastery, not merely greater power.
Bhishma addresses someone (implicitly a being/person under discussion) by describing a chain of transformations into stronger creatures—first an elephant in rut, then a lion, and then the even mightier śarabha—using this as a moral illustration about the dynamics of power and the dangers of unchecked pride.