वपन् व्रणे क्षारम् इव क्षतानां शत्रुकर्शन ॥
विदीर्यते मे हृदयं त्वया वाक्शल्यपीडितम् ॥
अधर्मम् एतद् विपुलं धार्मिकः सन् न बुध्यसे ॥
यत् त्वम् आत्मानम् अस्मांश् च प्रशंस्यान् न प्रशंससि ॥
यः कलां षोडशीं त्वत्तो नार्हते तं प्रशंससि ॥
vapan vraṇe kṣāram iva kṣatānāṃ śatrukarśana ||
vidīryate me hṛdayaṃ tvayā vākśalyapīḍitam ||
adharmam etad vipulaṃ dhārmikaḥ san na budhyase ||
yat tvam ātmānam asmāṃś ca praśaṃsyān na praśaṃsasi ||
yaḥ kalāṃ ṣoḍaśīṃ tvatto nārhate taṃ praśaṃsasi ||
"Like one sprinkling caustic salt into the wound of the wounded, O scourge of foes -- my heart is rent asunder, tormented by you with the arrow of your words. This vast unrighteousness, though righteous yourself, you fail to perceive -- that you do not praise yourself and us, though worthy of praise; while him who is not worth a sixteenth part of you, you extol."
d4a329fc9f5a · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:08:17 PM UTC
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In Arjuna's self-reproach Bhima sees the underside of injustice: by belittling his own and exalting the enemy, Arjuna does wrong to those near him. It is telling how the words are likened to salt poured into a wound -- a reproach untimely amid shared pain only inflames it further. The verse teaches that there is a false humility that wounds the faithful; and one who, from excessive scruple, disparages his own and praises the unworthy sins against truth no less than the boaster does.