Shloka 53
Adhyāya 168: Arjuna’s counters to māyā-rains and the onset of darkness
Nivātakavaca engagement
जगद् विनिर्दहेदेवमल्पतेजसि पातितम् | पीड्यमानेन बलवत् प्रयोज्यं स्याद्ू धनंजय
arjuna uvāca | jagad vinirdahad evam alpatejasi pātitam | pīḍyamānena balavat prayojyaṃ syād dhanaṃjaya ||
Arjuna nói: “Nếu khi giáng xuống kẻ ít hào quang mà nó lại thiêu rụi cả thế gian như vậy, thì chỉ nên dùng nó với sức mạnh lớn lao để đối phó kẻ thật sự hùng cường—hỡi Dhanañjaya.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power must be used with restraint and proportionality. A force capable of catastrophic harm should not be unleashed on a weak opponent; it is ethically appropriate only when truly necessary against a formidable threat.
Arjuna reflects on the destructive potential of a mighty force (implicitly a weapon or power). Observing that it could ‘burn the world’ even when used on someone of lesser power, he argues it should be reserved for use—if at all—only against a genuinely powerful adversary.