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 ||
Alarka nói: “Da này đã nếm trải muôn thứ khoái lạc của xúc chạm, rồi lại khát khao chính những cảm giác ấy. Vậy ta sẽ xé toạc lớp da này—dùng đủ loại mũi tên mà rạch nát—để chặt đứt lòng ham muốn bén rễ từ xúc.”
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.