Shloka 7
कार्याकार्य न जानीषे कालपक्वो<5स्यसंशयम् | बह्नबद्धमकर्णीयं को हि ब्रूयाज्जिजीविषु:
kāryākāryaṁ na jānīṣe kālapakvo ’sy asaṁśayam | bahnibaddham akarṇīyaṁ ko hi brūyāj jijīviṣuḥ ||
तुम्हें कर्तव्य और अकर्तव्य का कुछ भी ज्ञान नहीं है। निःसंदेह काल ने तुम्हें मृत्यु के लिए पका दिया है—गिरने को तत्पर फल की भाँति। अन्यथा जो जीवित रहना चाहता हो, वह कौन पुरुष इतनी कठोर, न सुनने योग्य, निरर्थक बातें कहेगा?
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Right judgment (knowing kārya vs. akārya) and disciplined speech are ethical necessities; reckless, abusive, or senseless talk is portrayed as self-destructive and contrary to the instinct for self-preservation.
In the Karṇa Parva war setting, Śalya delivers a sharp reprimand to his interlocutor, accusing him of lacking discernment and implying that his reckless words show he is already “ripened by Time,” i.e., destined to fall in death.