Shloka 4
यो वै दर्पात् संहननोपपन्न: सुदुर्बल: पर्वतमाविहन्ति । तस्यैव पाणि: सनखो विदीर्यते न चैव शैलस्य हि दृश्यते व्रण:,जो देहधारी अत्यन्त दुर्बल होकर भी अहंकारवश अपने हाथसे पर्वतपर चोट करता है, उसीके हाथ और नख विदीर्ण हो जाते हैं। उस चोटसे पर्वतमें घाव होता नहीं देखा जाता है
yo vai darpāt saṁhananopapannaḥ sudurbalaḥ parvatam āvihanti | tasyaiva pāṇiḥ sanakho vidīryate na caiva śailasya hi dṛśyate vraṇaḥ ||
Even if a man is extremely weak, when—out of arrogance—he strikes a mountain with his hand, it is his own hand and nails that split and bleed; no wound is seen upon the rock. The teaching is clear: pride-driven aggression harms the aggressor, while the truly firm remains unmoved.
सअद्टावक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Arrogance makes a weak person attack what is unassailable, but the injury returns upon the attacker. The verse warns that pride-driven confrontation with the steadfast (like a mountain) results in self-destruction, not in harming the truly firm.
Aṣṭāvakra illustrates his counsel through a vivid simile: a very weak man, puffed up with pride, strikes a mountain; his own hand and nails split, while the mountain shows no wound. The image supports a moral instruction about restraint and humility.