Shloka 26
अध्याय ३० — क्रोधदोषाः क्षमाप्रशंसा च
Defects of Anger and the Praise of Forbearance
मणि: सूत्र इव प्रोतो नस्योत इव गोवृष: । स्रोतसो मध्यमापन्न: कूलाद् वृक्ष इव च्युत:
maṇiḥ sūtra iva protaḥ nāsyota iva govṛṣaḥ | srotaso madhyamāpannaḥ kūlād vṛkṣa iva cyutaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira disse: “Sou como uma joia enfiada num fio, como um touro poderoso com a corda presa ao focinho; fui arrastado para o meio da corrente, como uma árvore arrancada da margem do rio.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse conveys the ethical and psychological truth that even a righteous person may feel bound and carried by forces beyond immediate control—like a jewel on a string or a bull led by a halter—yet the dharmic response is to endure, reflect, and act rightly when agency returns, rather than collapse into despair.
Yudhiṣṭhira expresses his helplessness and dislocation during the hardships of exile, using a chain of similes: he is constrained (strung/halter-led) and swept into danger (midstream), like a tree uprooted from the bank—capturing the Pandavas’ precarious condition and his inner turmoil.