Shloka 22
Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)
पीडितस्य किमद्वारमुत्पथो विधृतस्य च । अद्वारत: प्रद्रवति यदा भवति पीडित:,आपदग्रस्त मनुष्यके लिये कौन-सा द्वार नहीं है? (वह जिस ओरसे निकल भागे, वही उसके लिये द्वार है)। कैदीके लिये कौन-सा बुरा मार्ग है (वह बिना मार्गके भी भागकर आत्मरक्षा कर सके तो ऐसा प्रयत्न कर सकता है)। मनुष्य जब आपकत्तिमें घिरा होता है तब वह बिना दरवाजेके भी भाग निकलता है
pīḍitasya kim advāram utpatho vidhṛtasya ca | advārataḥ pradravati yadā bhavati pīḍitaḥ ||
Disse Bhīṣma: “Para o homem esmagado pela calamidade, que lugar pode ser chamado de ‘sem saída’? E para aquele mantido em cativeiro, que caminho é de fato ‘proibido’? Quando alguém é levado ao extremo, foge até por onde não há porta alguma.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
In extreme distress, people prioritize survival and will find or create an exit even where none seems to exist; likewise, one under restraint may take unconventional routes. The verse highlights how calamity compresses choices and pushes humans toward desperate, improvised action.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on statecraft and dharma. Here he offers a pragmatic observation about behavior under danger: when afflicted, a person escapes by any means, even through ‘doorless’ places or ‘improper’ paths.