Shloka 44
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 28: Dharmādharmalakṣaṇa in Āpad
Crisis-Discernment of Right and Wrong
यो बीभत्सोहदये प्रोत आसी- दस्थिच्छिन्दन् मर्मघाती सुघोर: । कर्णाच्छरो वाड्मयस्तिग्मतेजा: प्रतिष्ठितो हृदये फाल्गुनस्य,कर्णके मुखसे निकला हुआ वह अत्यन्त घोर कटुवचनरूपी बाण मर्मपर चोट पहुँचानेवाला था। वह कानके रास्तेसे भीतर जाकर हड्डियोंको छेदता हुआ अर्जुनके हृदयमें धँस गया। तीखी कसक पैदा करनेवाला वह वाग्बाण आज भी अर्जुनके हृदयमें गड़ा हुआ है (और इनके कलेजेको साल रहा है)
yo bībhatsaḥ hṛdaye prota āsīd asthicchindan marma-ghātī sughoraḥ | karṇāc charo vāṅmayaḥ tigma-tejāḥ pratiṣṭhito hṛdaye phālgunasya ||
Wika ni Vāyu: “Ang kakila-kilabot na palasong iyon—palasong yari sa mga salita—ay naibaon sa kanyang puso: nakapanghihilakbot, tumatama sa mga mahalagang ugat ng buhay, na wari’y humahati ng mga buto. Pumasok ito sa pamamagitan ng tainga, at ang matalim na palasong-salita ay bumaon sa puso ni Phālguna (Arjuna); at hanggang ngayon ay nakabaon pa rin, patuloy siyang pinahihirapan.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Words can wound as deeply as weapons: harsh speech, especially when it targets a person’s honor or vital sensitivities, can lodge in the mind and heart and continue to cause suffering long after the moment has passed. The verse implicitly warns against cruelty in speech and highlights the ethical weight of vāṇī (speech) in dharma.
Vāyudeva describes how a bitter, cutting utterance—likened to a sharp arrow—entered through Arjuna’s ear and became fixed in his heart. The image conveys that Arjuna remains inwardly tormented by that verbal injury, as if struck in a vital spot.