Shloka 24
Adhyāya 6: Śibira-dvāra-sthita Bhūta-varṇana and Aśvatthāmā’s Śaraṇāgati to Mahādeva
तां चापदं घोरतरां प्रवदन्ति मनीषिण:
tāṃ cāpadaṃ ghoratarāṃ pravadanti manīṣiṇaḥ |
तां चापदं घोरतरां प्रवदन्ति मनीषिणः। यदा महत्कर्म समारभ्य भयात् प्रत्यावर्तते नरः। शक्तिबलविहीनश्च तस्मिन्कर्मणि न शक्नोति सिद्धिम्॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical psychology: the gravest misfortune is not merely external loss, but inner collapse—starting a noble or weighty duty and then retreating from fear, revealing a failure of courage and capacity to complete what one has undertaken.
Sañjaya, narrating events and reflections in the Sauptika Parva, reports a general maxim attributed to the wise: they characterize a particular kind of failure—fearful withdrawal after commencing a major action—as an especially terrible form of distress.