Shloka 4
Gaṅgā-Tīrtha Darśana and the Prelude to the Yavakrīta–Indra Exemplum (लोमश-युधिष्ठिर संवादः)
यो वै दर्पात् संहननोपपन्न: सुदुर्बल: पर्वतमाविहन्ति । तस्यैव पाणि: सनखो विदीर्यते न चैव शैलस्य हि दृश्यते व्रण:,जो देहधारी अत्यन्त दुर्बल होकर भी अहंकारवश अपने हाथसे पर्वतपर चोट करता है, उसीके हाथ और नख विदीर्ण हो जाते हैं। उस चोटसे पर्वतमें घाव होता नहीं देखा जाता है
yo vai darpāt saṁhananopapannaḥ sudurbalaḥ parvatam āvihanti | tasyaiva pāṇiḥ sanakho vidīryate na caiva śailasya hi dṛśyate vraṇaḥ ||
Ainda que um homem seja extremamente fraco, se—por arrogância—golpeia uma montanha com a mão, é a própria mão e as unhas que se fendem e sangram; na rocha, porém, não se vê ferida alguma.
सअद्टावक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Arrogance makes a weak person attack what is unassailable, but the injury returns upon the attacker. The verse warns that pride-driven confrontation with the steadfast (like a mountain) results in self-destruction, not in harming the truly firm.
Aṣṭāvakra illustrates his counsel through a vivid simile: a very weak man, puffed up with pride, strikes a mountain; his own hand and nails split, while the mountain shows no wound. The image supports a moral instruction about restraint and humility.