Shloka 8
यथा हाुच्चावचैववक्यै: क्षिप्तचित्तो नियम्यते । तथैव सुहृदा शक््यो न शक््यस्त्ववसीदति,जैसे मनुष्य विक्षिप्त चित्तवाले पागलको नाना प्रकारके ऊँच-नीच वचनोंद्वारा समझा- बुझाकर या डरा-धमकाकर काबूमें लाते हैं, उसी प्रकार सुहृदगण भी अपने स्वजनको समझा-बुझाकर और डाँट-डपटकर वशमें रखनेकी चेष्टा करते हैं। जो वशमें आ जाता है, वह तो सुखी होता है और जो किसी तरह काबूमें नहीं आ सकता, वह दुःख भोगता है
yathā hā uccāvacair vākyaiḥ kṣiptacitto niyamyate | tathaiva suhṛdā śakyo na śakyas tv avasīdati ||
Kṛpa said: “Just as a man whose mind has become deranged and scattered is brought under control by all sorts of words—now gentle, now harsh—so too a well-wisher tries to restrain his own kinsman by counsel and, when needed, by stern rebuke. The one who can be brought under discipline fares well; but the one who cannot be restrained sinks into misery.”
कृप उवाच
Educational Q&A
A well-wisher’s duty is to guide and restrain loved ones through appropriate speech—sometimes gentle instruction, sometimes stern reprimand. Those who accept discipline prosper; those who refuse correction fall into suffering.
In the Sauptika Parva context, Kṛpa is offering moral counsel: he frames the need to restrain an erring person (especially one driven by agitation) and warns that ungovernable conduct leads to ruin—setting an ethical lens on the actions and decisions unfolding after the night-raid episode.