Shloka 16
भीष्मस्य दुर्योधनं प्रति कुलहितोपदेशः | Bhīṣma’s Counsel to Duryodhana on Dynastic Welfare
कृतार्था: सुभृता ये लक व वस्थिता कृत्यकाले हाुपस्थिते । अनवेक्ष्य कृतं पापा न्त्यनवस्थिता:
kṛtārthāḥ subhṛtā ye lakṣaṇavāsthitā kṛtyakāle hy upasthite | anavekṣya kṛtaṃ pāpā nty anavasthitāḥ ||
Karna dit : « Ceux qui ont accompli leur but et ont été bien soutenus—ceux qui demeurent fermes dans la conduite juste—lorsque l’heure d’agir est venue, ne vacillent pas. Mais les pécheurs, à l’esprit instable, agissent sans considérer ce qui a été fait ni ce qui est droit ; privés de constance, ils tombent dans la précipitation. »
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Steadiness and discernment are marks of the accomplished when decisive duty arrives; moral failure is linked with instability and heedless action that ignores what is right or already established.
Karna is speaking in the Udyoga Parva context of impending war and decision-making, contrasting the firm resolve of capable, properly grounded persons with the rash, unstable conduct of the morally compromised.