Shloka 166
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०
Karṇa’s Pressure on the Pāñcālas; Duryodhana Disabled; Arjuna’s Counter-Advance
भवानेव विशिष्टो हि पतत्रिभ्यो विहड़म । (एतेडतिपातिन: पश्य विहड्डान् वियदाश्रितान् | एभिस्त्वमपि शक्तो हि कामान्न पतितं त्वया ।।
bhavān eva viśiṣṭo hi patatribhyo vihaṅgama | eted atipātinaḥ paśya vihaṅgān viyad-āśritān | ebhis tvam api śakto hi kāmān na patitaṃ tvayā ||
三阇耶说道：见到那些天鹅，年幼的王子们便对乌鸦如此说道：“噢，飞鸟啊！你确是诸有翼之中最为卓绝者。看——这些翱翔天际的天鹅直上苍穹，远飞万里。你也有力量飞得与它们一样远；只是出于你自己的意愿，至今尚未尝试那般长空之行。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
True limitation is not always lack of power; often it is lack of resolve or a chosen restraint. The passage highlights how potential can remain unrealized when one does not willfully attempt what one is capable of, and it also warns against judging excellence merely by comparison or flattery.
In a brief illustrative episode narrated by Sañjaya, the princes see swans flying high and far. They address a crow, praising it as superior among birds and suggesting it too could match the swans’ long flight, implying that its not doing so is a matter of choice rather than inability.