Shloka 24
Adhyāya 6: Śibira-dvāra-sthita Bhūta-varṇana and Aśvatthāmā’s Śaraṇāgati to Mahādeva
तां चापदं घोरतरां प्रवदन्ति मनीषिण:
tāṃ cāpadaṃ ghoratarāṃ pravadanti manīṣiṇaḥ |
三阇耶说道：“智者称之为更为可怖的灾厄：当一个人已着手伟业，却因恐惧而退缩，又因气力与决断不足，终不能将其贯彻到底。如此失败，所失的不仅是事业本身，更是勇气与道德的坚稳。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical psychology: the gravest misfortune is not merely external loss, but inner collapse—starting a noble or weighty duty and then retreating from fear, revealing a failure of courage and capacity to complete what one has undertaken.
Sañjaya, narrating events and reflections in the Sauptika Parva, reports a general maxim attributed to the wise: they characterize a particular kind of failure—fearful withdrawal after commencing a major action—as an especially terrible form of distress.