Shloka 15
अलर्कोपाख्यानम् — Indriya-Nigraha and Yogic Victory
Mahābhārata 14.30
अलर्क उवाच स्पृष्टवा त्वग्विविधान् स्पर्शास्तानेव प्रतिगृध्यति । तस्मात् त्वचं पाटयिष्ये विविध: कड़कपत्रिभि:
alarka uvāca spṛṣṭvā tvagvividhān sparśās tān eva pratigṛdhyati | tasmāt tvacaṁ pāṭayiṣye vividhaḥ kaḍakapatribhiḥ ||
الَرک نے کہا—یہ کھال طرح طرح کے لمس کے لذّات چکھ کر پھر انہی کی خواہش کرتی رہتی ہے۔ اس لیے میں گوناگوں تیروں سے اسی کھال کو چاک کر دوں گا، تاکہ لمس سے جنم لینے والی تِشنہ کی جڑ ہی کٹ جائے۔
अलर्क उवाच
Educational Q&A
Craving repeatedly re-arises from sense-contact; therefore one should restrain the senses and uproot attachment to pleasure. The verse dramatizes the ethical point that indulgence strengthens desire, while disciplined detachment aims to end it.
Alarka reflects on how the skin, after tasting many pleasures of touch, keeps yearning for them again. In a severe ascetic resolve, he declares he will rend the skin with arrows—an extreme image expressing his determination to conquer desire rooted in sensory experience.