Shloka 30
कर्णिनालीकनाराचानुत्सूजन् भरतर्षभ । स त्वमोघानिषून् मुक््त्वा तृष्णयाभिप्रपीडित:
karṇinālīkanārācān utsṛjan bharatarṣabha | sa tvam oghāniṣūn muktvā tṛṣṇayābhiprapīḍitaḥ ||
The Yakṣa said: “O bull among the Bharatas, you are letting fly barbed arrows—nālikas and nārācas. Yet you, tormented and driven by thirst, have discharged a whole shower of unfailing shafts.”
यक्ष उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one possesses strength and skill (symbolized by a flawless volley of arrows), bodily craving and distress (thirst) can still dominate; the episode points toward the need for restraint, discernment, and humility before higher law (dharma).
In the Yakṣa episode, the Yakṣa addresses Yudhiṣṭhira with a pointed observation: despite being afflicted by thirst, he has acted with force and martial capability—shooting a barrage of powerful arrows—setting the stage for the Yakṣa’s moral and philosophical testing.