Shloka 3
Gaṅgā-Tīrtha Darśana and the Prelude to the Yavakrīta–Indra Exemplum (लोमश-युधिष्ठिर संवादः)
बन्द्ुवाच व्याप्रं शयानं प्रति मा प्रबोधय आशीविषं सृक्किणी लेलिहानम् । पदाहतस्येह शिरो5भिहत्य नादष्टो वै मोक्ष्यसे तन्निबोध,बन्दीने कहा--मुझे सोता हुआ सिंह समझकर न जगाओ (न छेड़ो), अपने जबड़ोंको चाटता हुआ विषैला सर्प मानो। तुमने पैरोंसे ठोकर मारकर मेरे मस्तकको कुचल दिया है। अब जबतक तुम डँस लिये नहीं जाते तबतक तुम्हें छुटकारा नहीं मिल सकता, इस बातको अच्छी तरह समझ लो
bandy uvāca vyāghraṁ śayānaṁ prati mā prabodhaya āśīviṣaṁ sṛkkiṇī lelihānam | padāhatasyeha śiro 'bhihatya nādaṣṭo vai mokṣyase tan nibodha ||
The captive said: “Do not rouse me, taking me for a sleeping tiger; regard me as a venomous serpent licking its jaws. You have struck and crushed my head here with your foot—know this well: until you are bitten, you will not be released.” The speech warns against provoking a dangerous person and frames retaliation as an inescapable consequence of reckless aggression.
सअद्टावक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not provoke a dangerous person or situation out of carelessness; harm invites inevitable backlash. The verse uses the tiger and serpent images to stress that disturbing latent danger can lead to unavoidable consequences.
A captive addresses someone who has attacked or insulted him (symbolically ‘crushing his head with the foot’) and warns that the aggressor will not escape until the captive retaliates—likened to a serpent’s bite.