Shloka 20
Garuḍa’s Breach of the Amṛta-Guard and Boons with Viṣṇu; Encounter with Indra (Ādi-parva, Adhyāya 29)
विदित्वा चापरे भिन्नानन्तरेषु पतन्त्यथ । भिन्नानामतुलो नाश: क्षिप्रमेव प्रवर्तते,“दूसरे लोग, उनमें फ़ूट हो गयी है, यह जानकर उनके छिठद्र देखा करते हैं एवं छिद्र मिल जानेपर उनमें परस्पर वैर बढ़ानेके लिये स्वयं बीचमें आ पड़ते हैं। इसलिये जो लोग अलग-अलग होकर आपसमें फूट पैदा कर लेते हैं, उनका शीघ्र ही ऐसा विनाश हो जाता है, जिसकी कहीं तुलना नहीं है
viditvā cāpare bhinnān antareṣu patanty atha | bhinnānām atulo nāśaḥ kṣipram eva pravartate ||
Kashyapa said: Knowing that others have become divided, certain people then slip into the gaps between them. Once a breach is found, they insert themselves to inflame mutual hostility. Therefore, when people split apart and create factional discord among themselves, an incomparable destruction quickly sets in for them.
कश्यप उवाच
Educational Q&A
Internal division invites opportunists who exploit the ‘gaps’ between people; therefore, factionalism and disunity rapidly lead to ruin. The ethical counsel is to preserve unity and resolve conflicts before outsiders can weaponize them.
Kashyapa delivers a warning framed as practical moral-political insight: when a group becomes fractured, others notice the breach and intrude, escalating enmity; the consequence is swift and incomparable destruction for the divided.