Shloka 28
Udyoga Parva, Adhyaya 104: Nārada on Suhṛt and Nirbandha; the Viśvāmitra–Gālava Exemplum Begins
क्षन्तुमरहसि मे देव विह्वलस्याल्पचेतस: । बलदाहविदग्धस्य पक्षिणो ध्वजवासिन:
kṣantum arhasi me deva vihvalasyālpacetasaḥ | baladāhavidagdhasya pakṣiṇo dhvajavāsinaḥ ||
カṇヴァは言った。「主よ、どうかお赦しください。私は狼狽し、理解も浅い者です。私はただ、あなたの旗印に宿る一羽の鳥にすぎません。いまやあなたの力と威光の灼熱に焼かれ、震え、気を失いかけています。どうかこの罪をお許しください。」
कण्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds humility before overwhelming power and the ethical impulse to seek forgiveness: when one is confused or harmed by forces beyond one’s capacity, the proper response is contrition and a plea for compassionate pardon rather than pride or retaliation.
Kaṇva speaks to a divine or exalted figure addressed as ‘Deva,’ identifying himself as a mere bird living on the deity’s banner. Overcome and ‘scorched’ by the blazing energy of that power, he becomes bewildered and asks to be forgiven for any offense committed in that distressed state.