Shloka 16
अलर्कोपाख्यानम् — Indriya-Nigraha and Yogic Victory
Mahābhārata 14.30
त्वगुवाच नेमे बाणास्तरिष्यन्ति मामलर्क कथंचन । तवैव मर्म भेत्स्यन्ति भिन्नमर्मा मरिष्यसि
tvag uvāca neme bāṇās tariṣyanti mām alarka kathaṃcana | tavaiva marma bhetsyanti bhinnamarmā mariṣyasi
Alarka said: “Your skin has declared, ‘These arrows will never pierce me, Alarka, in any way.’ Yet they will strike your very vital points; once your vital spots are shattered, you will die.”
अलर्क उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not mistake superficial protection or confidence for true invulnerability: even if the outer body seems unharmed, a strike to the marma (vital points) brings ruin. Ethically, it warns against arrogance and urges clear-eyed awareness of one’s real vulnerabilities.
Alarka addresses an opponent (or the personified ‘skin’) that boasts the arrows cannot pierce it. He counters that the arrows will in fact hit the vital spots, and once those are broken, death is inevitable—shifting the focus from outward toughness to inner, decisive vulnerability.