Shloka 29
Śakuni–Duryodhana-saṃvāda: Dyūta-yojanā (Śakuni and Duryodhana on Planning the Dice-Game)
मा साहसमितीदं सा सततं वाशते किल । साहसं चात्मनातीव चरन्ती नावबुध्यते
mā sāhasam itīdaṃ sā satataṃ vāśate kila | sāhasaṃ cātmanā tīva carantī nāvabudhyate ||
वह सदा यही चिल्लाती रहती है—“साहस मत करो!” पर स्वयं अत्यन्त साहसिक कर्म करती हुई भी उसे इसका बोध नहीं होता।
शिशुपाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse criticizes hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness: one should not merely advise others against rashness while oneself acting with even greater recklessness. Ethical speech must align with one’s conduct.
In Śiśupāla’s speech, he employs a proverbial illustration: a woman repeatedly warns ‘Do not be rash,’ yet she herself behaves rashly and does not realize it. The image functions as a rhetorical jab within his broader critique.