Shloka 303
अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
तथाहमपि सम्प्राप्तो लूनपक्ष इव द्विज: । सूत! जैसे खेलते हुए बालक किसी पक्षीको पकड़कर उसकी दोनों पाँखें काट लेते और प्रसन्नतापूर्वक उसे छोड़ देते हैं। फिर पंख कट जानेके कारण उसका उड़कर कहीं जाना सम्भव नहीं हो पाता। उसी कटे हुए पंखवाले पक्षीके समान मैं भी भारी दुर्दशामें पड़ गया हूँ
tathāham api samprāpto lūnapakṣa iva dvijaḥ | sūta!
Sinabi ni Dhṛtarāṣṭra: “Ako man ay dumating sa ganitong kalagayan—gaya ng ibong pinutulan ng pakpak. O Sūta, kung paanong ang mga batang walang-malay, sa paglalaro, ay huhuli ng ibon, puputulin ang dalawang pakpak, at saka ito palalayain nang may tuwa—ngunit dahil naputol ang pakpak, hindi na ito makalilipad palayo—gayon din ako, gaya ng ibong putol-pakpak, napasadsad sa mabigat na kapighatian, walang lakas upang makatakas.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of consequences: careless or cruel actions can leave another being permanently powerless, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra recognizes a similar helplessness in himself—suggesting that moral failures and the outcomes of war can ‘clip’ one’s agency and peace.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing of the calamities of the Kurukṣetra war, speaks to the Sūta in anguish. He uses a vivid simile of a bird released after its wings are cut to describe his own ruined condition—alive, yet unable to ‘fly’ out of suffering or avert the disaster.