Shloka 24
Adhyāya 6: Śibira-dvāra-sthita Bhūta-varṇana and Aśvatthāmā’s Śaraṇāgati to Mahādeva
तां चापदं घोरतरां प्रवदन्ति मनीषिण:,“मनीषी पुरुष उसीको अत्यन्त भयंकर आपत्ति बताते हैं, जब कि मनुष्य किसी महान् कार्यका आरम्भ करके भयके कारण भी उससे पीछे हट जाता है और शक्ति-बलसे यहाँ उस कर्मको करनेमें असमर्थ हो जाता है
tāṃ cāpadaṃ ghoratarāṃ pravadanti manīṣiṇaḥ |
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “Sinasabi ng mga pantas na higit pang nakapanghihilakbot na kapahamakan ito: kapag ang tao’y nagsimula na ng isang dakilang gawain, ngunit dahil sa takot ay umurong, at sa kakulangan ng lakas at paninindigan ay hindi ito maipagpatuloy hanggang wakas. Sa ganitong kabiguan, hindi lamang ang gawain ang nawawala, kundi pati ang tapang at ang katatagang moral.”
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.