Shloka 39
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०
Karṇa’s Pressure on the Pāñcālas; Duryodhana Disabled; Arjuna’s Counter-Advance
विसिस्मापयिषु: पातैराचक्षाणो55त्मन: क्रिया: । अथ काकस्य चित्राणि पतितानि मुहुर्मुहु:
visismāpayiṣuḥ pātair ācakṣāṇo ’tmanaḥ kriyāḥ | atha kākasya citrāṇi patitāni muhur muhuḥ ||
白鳥は言った。「人を驚かせようと己の業を誇示し、しきりに自分の働きを言い立てていた。だがそのたびごとに、烏のけばけばしい飾りは何度も落ちてしまった。」この句は、自らを売り込む驕りと、借り物の虚飾が必ず露見することとの対比を示す。真の価値は見せびらかしに依らず、虚勢は繰り返し試されれば崩れ去る。
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
Boastful self-display and borrowed splendor are unstable: when one relies on outward show and self-praise rather than genuine merit, repeated trials expose the pretense, and the ‘ornaments’ of reputation fall away.
The Swan narrates how the crow, trying to impress others with flashy aerial feats and by advertising his own deeds, is repeatedly embarrassed when his colorful adornments/gaudy trappings keep falling off.