Shloka 16
जटायुरुपदेशः — Jatāyu Confronts Rāvaṇa
Ethical Admonition and Challenge
सर्पमाशीविषं बद्ध्वा वस्त्रान्ते नावबुध्यसे।।।।ग्रीवायां प्रतिसक्तं च कालपाशं न पश्यसि।
sarpam āśīviṣaṃ baddhvā vastrānte nāvabudhyase | grīvāyāṃ pratisaktaṃ ca kālapāśaṃ na paśyasi ||
तू वस्त्राच्या काठाला जणू विषारी सर्प बांधीत आहेस, तरीही तुला कळत नाही; आणि गळ्याभोवती आवळलेला काळाचा पाशही तुला दिसत नाही।
You are not aware that you are tying a venomous snake with the skirt of your cloth. worn by you. You are not able to see the noose of death tightened around your neck.
FAQs
Moral blindness precedes downfall: adharma is self-destructive, like embracing a deadly snake, and it draws inevitable death-like consequence.
Jatāyu warns Rāvaṇa that abducting Sītā is tantamount to inviting his own death.
Discernment (viveka)—the verse contrasts Jatāyu’s clarity with Rāvaṇa’s delusion.