Shloka 24
मधुकैटभवधोपाख्यानम्
The Account of the Slaying of Madhu and Kaiṭabha
कुले जाताश्व क्लिश्यन्ते दौष्कुलेयवशानुगा: । आदयैर्दरिद्राश्चाक्रान्ता: कि नु दुःखतरं तत:,कुलीन मनुष्य भी नीच कुलके लोगोंके वशमें पड़कर क्लेश उठा रहे हैं और धनीलोग दरिद्रोंको सताते हैं। इससे बढ़कर दुःखकी बात और क्या हो सकती है?
kule jātāś ca kliśyante dauṣkuleyavaśānugāḥ | āḍhyair daridrāś cākrāntāḥ ki nu duḥkhataraṃ tataḥ ||
قال باكا: «حتى من وُلدوا في بيوتٍ شريفةٍ يعانون إذا وقعوا تحت سلطان رجالٍ من سلالةٍ وضيعة؛ ويُقهَر الفقراءُ على أيدي الأغنياء. فأيُّ شيءٍ أشدُّ إيلامًا من هذا؟»
बक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse laments social inversion and injustice: when the worthy become dependent on the unworthy and when wealth becomes a tool for oppression, society’s suffering deepens. It highlights an ethical critique of power used without dharma.
In Baka’s speech, he points to a distressing state of the world: high-born people are forced into subservience under low-born controllers, and the poor are crushed by the rich. He presents this as an extreme form of human misery.