Shloka 36
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०
Karṇa’s Pressure on the Pāñcālas; Duryodhana Disabled; Arjuna’s Counter-Advance
कथमेकेन पातेन हंस: पातशतं जयेत् । एकेनैव शतस्यैष पातेनाभिभविष्यति
katham ekena pātena haṁsaḥ pātaśataṁ jayet | ekenaiva śatasya eṣa pātenābhibhaviṣyati ||
“Làm sao một con thiên nga, chỉ bằng một lối bay, có thể thắng nổi trăm lối bay? Trái lại, chính vì chỉ có một lối ấy mà nó sẽ bị trăm lối kia áp đảo.”
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
A single effort or advantage is often insufficient against a sustained, collective force; wise action requires realistic assessment of relative strength and the cumulative power of many.
A speaker identified as ‘the Swan’ offers a pointed rhetorical argument: one stroke cannot defeat a hundred; instead, the lone actor is likely to be overwhelmed—serving as counsel about strategy and caution in the surrounding war-time discourse.