Shloka 7
Kṛpa’s Archery Display; Śikhaṇḍin Checked; Suketu Slain; Dhṛṣṭadyumna–Kṛtavarmā Clash (कृपशौर्य–पार्षतहार्दिक्ययुद्धम्)
कार्याकार्य न जानीषे कालपक्वो<5स्यसंशयम् | बह्नबद्धमकर्णीयं को हि ब्रूयाज्जिजीविषु:,तुम्हें कर्तव्य और अकर्तव्यका कुछ भी ज्ञान नहीं है। निःसंदेह तुम्हें कालने पका दिया है। (अतः तुम पके हुए फलके समान गिरनेवाले ही हो); अन्यथा जो जीवित रहना चाहता है, ऐसा कौन पुरुष ऐसी बहुत-सी न सुननेयोग्य ऊटपटांग बातें कह सकता है?
kāryākāryaṁ na jānīṣe kālapakvo ’sy asaṁśayam | bahnibaddham akarṇīyaṁ ko hi brūyāj jijīviṣuḥ ||
Śalya said: “You do not understand at all what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Without doubt, Time has ripened you for death—like a fruit ready to fall. Otherwise, what man who still wishes to live would utter so many harsh, unfit-to-be-heard, senseless words?”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Right judgment (knowing kārya vs. akārya) and disciplined speech are ethical necessities; reckless, abusive, or senseless talk is portrayed as self-destructive and contrary to the instinct for self-preservation.
In the Karṇa Parva war setting, Śalya delivers a sharp reprimand to his interlocutor, accusing him of lacking discernment and implying that his reckless words show he is already “ripened by Time,” i.e., destined to fall in death.