Shloka 24
Adhyāya 6: Śibira-dvāra-sthita Bhūta-varṇana and Aśvatthāmā’s Śaraṇāgati to Mahādeva
तां चापदं घोरतरां प्रवदन्ति मनीषिण:
tāṃ cāpadaṃ ghoratarāṃ pravadanti manīṣiṇaḥ |
Sañjaya dit : «Les sages disent que voilà un malheur plus effroyable encore : lorsqu’un homme, ayant entrepris une grande œuvre, recule par peur et, faute de force et de résolution, se révèle incapable de la mener à terme. Dans un tel échec, la perte n’est pas seulement celle de l’œuvre, mais aussi celle du courage et de la constance morale.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical psychology: the gravest misfortune is not merely external loss, but inner collapse—starting a noble or weighty duty and then retreating from fear, revealing a failure of courage and capacity to complete what one has undertaken.
Sañjaya, narrating events and reflections in the Sauptika Parva, reports a general maxim attributed to the wise: they characterize a particular kind of failure—fearful withdrawal after commencing a major action—as an especially terrible form of distress.