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 |
संजय बोले— मनीषीजन उस आपत्ति को और भी घोर बताते हैं, जब मनुष्य किसी महान् कार्य का आरम्भ करके भय के कारण उससे पीछे हट जाता है और शक्ति-बल के अभाव में उस कर्म को पूरा करने में असमर्थ हो जाता है।
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.