Shloka 46
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०
Karṇa’s Pressure on the Pāñcālas; Duryodhana Disabled; Arjuna’s Counter-Advance
निपतेयं क्व नु श्रान्त इति तस्मिज्जलार्णवे
nipateyaṁ kva nu śrānta iti tasmiñ jalārṇave
“Bila aku kelelahan, di manakah aku akan hinggap di samudra air yang luas ini?”—demikian, di hamparan air yang tak bertepi itu gagak mulai cemas: “Laut, tempat tinggal makhluk air yang tak terhitung, tak memberiku perlindungan. Samudra raya ini, yang dipenuhi makhluk-makhluk perkasa tanpa bilangan, tampak lebih luas bahkan daripada langit.”
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights practical discernment: one should not enter an undertaking whose scale exceeds one’s capacity and offers no secure support. Anxiety arises when a being overreaches into an environment where it has no refuge.
In a dialogue attributed to the swan (Haṃsa), the crow reflects on the danger of the ocean: if it becomes tired mid-flight, there is nowhere to land, and the sea is filled with powerful aquatic beings. The scene uses the ocean as an image of an overwhelming domain lacking safety for the unfit.