Shloka 22
Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)
पीडितस्य किमद्वारमुत्पथो विधृतस्य च । अद्वारत: प्रद्रवति यदा भवति पीडित:
pīḍitasya kim advāram utpatho vidhṛtasya ca | advārataḥ pradravati yadā bhavati pīḍitaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Pour l’homme écrasé par le malheur, quel lieu pourrait être “sans issue” ? Et pour celui qu’on tient en captivité, quel chemin serait vraiment “interdit” ? Quand un être est poussé à l’extrémité, il s’enfuit même par ce qui n’est pas une porte».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
In extreme distress, people prioritize survival and will find or create an exit even where none seems to exist; likewise, one under restraint may take unconventional routes. The verse highlights how calamity compresses choices and pushes humans toward desperate, improvised action.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on statecraft and dharma. Here he offers a pragmatic observation about behavior under danger: when afflicted, a person escapes by any means, even through ‘doorless’ places or ‘improper’ paths.