Shloka 38
कर्कोटक-उपदेशः
Karkoṭaka’s Counsel and Nala’s Concealment
यद्यहं नैषधादन्यं मनसापि न चिन्तये । तथायं पततां क्षुद्रो परासुर्मुगजीवन:,“यदि मैं निषधराज नलके सिवा दूसरे किसी पुरुषका मनसे भी चिन्तन नहीं करती होऊँ, तो इसके प्रभावसे यह तुच्छ व्याध प्राणशून्य होकर गिर पड़े”
yady ahaṃ naiṣadhād anyaṃ manasāpi na cintaye | tathāyaṃ patatāṃ kṣudro parāsur mṛgajīvanaḥ ||
Wika ni Bṛhadaśva: “Kung totoo na kahit sa aking isipan ay hindi ko iniisip ang sinumang lalaki maliban kay Nala, ang hari ng Niṣadha, kung gayon sa kapangyarihan ng katotohanang iyon, nawa’y bumagsak na walang buhay ang hamak na mangangaso na ito.”
ब॒हृदश्चव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates satyakriyā—the idea that steadfast truthfulness and moral integrity (here, exclusive fidelity in thought) can become a potent ethical force, capable of protecting the innocent and restraining wrongdoing.
Bṛhadaśva narrates a moment where a woman invokes the truth of her unwavering mental fidelity to Nala, king of Niṣadha, as a solemn declaration; she calls upon that truth to render a contemptible hunter powerless—falling down lifeless.