Shloka 25
Skanda–Mātṛgaṇa-janma: Kumārakāḥ, Kanyāgaṇāḥ, and the Vīrāṣṭaka (स्कन्द-मातृगण-सम्भवः)
यं विषादो$भिभवति विक्रमे समुपस्थिते । तेजसा तस्य हीनस्य पुरुषार्थो न विद्यते,पराक्रमका अवसर उपस्थित होनेपर जिसे विषाद घेर लेता है, उस तेजोहीन पुरुषका कोई पुरुषार्थ सिद्ध नहीं होता
yaṁ viṣādo'bhibhavati vikrame samupasthite | tejasā tasya hīnasya puruṣārtho na vidyate ||
狩人は言った。「勇気と断乎たる努力の時が来たというのに、もし人が落胆に呑まれるなら、内なる火を失ったその者の人の営みは、いかなるものも真に成就しない。」
व्याध उवाच
Educational Q&A
Despondency at the very moment action is required destroys tejas (inner vigor), and without that energy purposeful human effort (puruṣārtha) cannot bear results. The verse urges steadiness and courage as ethical prerequisites for effective action.
In the Vyādha’s instruction (a dharma-teaching dialogue in the Vana Parva), he admonishes the listener that yielding to viṣāda when a critical opportunity for decisive effort arises makes one incapable of accomplishing any meaningful undertaking.