Shloka 30
अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
विसर्जयन्ति संहृष्टा: क्रीडमाना: कुमारका: । लूनपक्षतया तस्य गमन॑ नोपपद्यते
visarjayanti saṁhṛṣṭāḥ krīḍamānāḥ kumārakāḥ | lūnapakṣatayā tasya gamanaṁ nopapadyate ||
Sinabi ni Dhṛtarāṣṭra: “Masayang naglalaro ang maliliit na bata at saka nila ito pinakakawalan; ngunit dahil naputol ang mga pakpak nito, hindi naman talaga ito makapupunta kahit saan.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
A freedom that is granted after one has been crippled is not real freedom. The verse uses a simple image—children releasing a wing-clipped creature—to highlight the ethical emptiness of allowing action while having already removed the capacity to act.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks in a metaphorical register, describing playful boys releasing something whose wings have been cut; it cannot actually depart. In the war-context of Karṇa Parva, the image underscores helplessness and the futility of expecting meaningful movement or escape once the means have been destroyed.