Shloka 13
आचार्य-क्षमा, देśa–kāla-नīti, तथा भेद-दोषः
Teacher-Reconciliation, Timing-Policy, and the Fault of Factionalism
स त्वं कथमिहानेन शड्खशब्देन भीषित: । विवर्णरूपो वित्रस्त: पुरुष: प्राकृतो यथा,फिर यहाँ इस शंखनादसे तुम भयभीत कैसे हो गये? साधारण मनुष्योंके समान अधिक डर जानेके कारण तुम्हारे शरीरका रंग फीका कैसे पड़ गया?
sa tvaṁ katham ihānena śaṅkhaśabdena bhīṣitaḥ | vivarṇarūpo vitrastaḥ puruṣaḥ prākṛto yathā ||
Arjuna berkata: “Mengapa di sini engkau menjadi gentar oleh bunyi sangkakala ini? Mengapa wajahmu pucat dan engkau tampak tergoncang—seperti orang biasa yang ditundukkan oleh ketakutan?”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical expectation of steadiness and courage in a crisis: fear that visibly overwhelms a person is portrayed as the mark of an untrained, ordinary man, implicitly urging self-control and kṣatriya-like composure in the face of martial signals.
In the Virāṭa episode’s war setting, a conch-blast is heard as hostilities loom. Arjuna addresses his companion, surprised that the conch-sound has made him visibly pale and shaken, questioning this sudden fearfulness.