Shloka 20
भीष्मद्रोणयोर्दुर्योधनं प्रति शान्त्युपदेशः | Bhīṣma and Droṇa’s Counsel to Duryodhana for Pacification
यावनाथौ चरिष्येते त्वया नाथेन दुर्हदा । हतमित्रौ हतामात्यौ लूनपक्षाविवाण्डजौ
yāvanāthau cariṣyete tvayā nāthena durhṛdā | hatamitrau hatāmātyau lūnapakṣāv ivāṇḍajau ||
जोपर्यंत ते दोघे रक्षणहीन होऊन तुझ्यासारख्या कठोरहृदय नाथाच्या अधीन जगतील—मित्र मारलेले, अमात्य नष्ट झालेले—तोपर्यंत ते कापलेल्या पंखांचे दोन पक्षी जसे असहाय असतात तसेच राहतील.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical failure of ‘protection’ that is hostile in intent: when those who should be safeguarded are placed under an ill-wisher, they become effectively incapacitated—stripped of support, counsel, and agency—like birds whose wings are cut.
Vaiśampāyana describes a situation in which two persons, lacking true protectors and forced to live under a hostile authority, are portrayed as politically and practically powerless—having lost allies and ministers—using the vivid simile of wing-clipped birds.