Mahabharata 1.71.28 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 71, Shloka 28
Adhyāya 71: Kaca and the Saṃjīvanī-vidyā
Devayānī–Śukra Episode
तेजसस्तपसश्रैव कोपस्य च महात्मन: । त्वमप्युद्धिजसे यस्य नोद्विजेयमहं कथम्,जिन महात्माके तेज, तप और क्रोधसे आप भी उद्विग्न हो उठते हैं, उनसे मैं कैसे नहीं डरूँगी?
tejasas tapasaś caiva kopasya ca mahātmanaḥ | tvam apy udvijase yasya nodvijeyam ahaṃ katham ||
“ആ മഹാത്മാവിന്റെ തേജസ്സും തപസ്സും കോപവും നിങ്ങളെയ്ക്കും വിറപ്പിക്കുന്നു എങ്കിൽ, ഞാൻ എങ്ങനെ ഭയപ്പെടാതിരിക്കും?”
कण्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral psychology of power: tapas (austerity) and tejas (spiritual potency) command reverence, and when such power is joined with kopa (anger), it becomes fearsome. It implies an ethical caution—great spiritual force should be governed by restraint, and others naturally respond with fear when anger accompanies sanctity.
Kaṇva responds to another person’s visible fear, reasoning that if even they are shaken by the great-souled figure’s radiance, austerity, and wrath, then Kaṇva’s own fear is entirely understandable. The line functions as a justification of apprehension in the presence of formidable ascetic power.
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