Shloka 15
अलर्कोपाख्यानम् — Indriya-Nigraha and Yogic Victory
Mahābhārata 14.30
अलर्क उवाच स्पृष्टवा त्वग्विविधान् स्पर्शास्तानेव प्रतिगृध्यति । तस्मात् त्वचं पाटयिष्ये विविध: कड़कपत्रिभि:
alarka uvāca spṛṣṭvā tvagvividhān sparśās tān eva pratigṛdhyati | tasmāt tvacaṁ pāṭayiṣye vividhaḥ kaḍakapatribhiḥ ||
Wika ni Alarka: “Naranasan na ng balat na ito ang sari-saring ligaya ng haplos, at muli’t muli rin nitong hinahangad ang gayong damdamin. Kaya pupunitin ko ang balat na ito—wawasakin ko sa iba’t ibang palaso—upang maputol ang pagnanasa na nakaugat sa paghipo.”
अलर्क उवाच
Educational Q&A
Craving repeatedly re-arises from sense-contact; therefore one should restrain the senses and uproot attachment to pleasure. The verse dramatizes the ethical point that indulgence strengthens desire, while disciplined detachment aims to end it.
Alarka reflects on how the skin, after tasting many pleasures of touch, keeps yearning for them again. In a severe ascetic resolve, he declares he will rend the skin with arrows—an extreme image expressing his determination to conquer desire rooted in sensory experience.