Shanti Parva Adhyaya 153 Shloka 21 - Mahabharata | Bengali | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 21

अज्ञान–लोभयोः परस्परहेतुत्वम्

Mutual Causality of Ignorance and Greed

Devanagari script

हिमाग्निघोरसद्शो राजा भवति कश्चन | लांगलाशनिकल्पो वा भवेदन्य: परंतप

Transliteration

himāgni-ghora-sadṛśo rājā bhavati kaścana | lāṅgalāśani-kalpo vā bhaved anyaḥ parantapa ||

Translation

পরন্তপ! কোনো রাজা হিমের মতো শীতল ও স্নিগ্ধ, কোনো রাজা অগ্নির মতো দাহক, কোনো রাজা যমের মতো ভয়ংকর বলে প্রতীয়মান হয়; আবার কেউ লাঙল বা বজ্রের ন্যায় দুষ্টতাকে মূলসহ উপড়ে ফেলে, পাপাচারীদের উপর আকস্মিক আঘাত হানে।

Word by Word

हिमाग्निघोरसदृशःresembling snow, fire, and the terrible (one)

राजाking

भवतिbecomes / is

कश्चनsome (one)

लाङ्गलाशनिकल्पःlike a plough (or) like a thunderbolt

वाor

भवेत्may be / would be

अन्यःanother

परंतपO scorcher of foes (epithet)

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śaunaka

rājā (king)

hima (snow)

agni (fire)

Yama (implied by 'Death' imagery in the sense of fearsome punishment)

lāṅgala (plough)

aśani (thunderbolt)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Rulership expresses itself in different temperaments—gentle restraint, fiery severity, fear-inducing authority, or sudden decisive punishment—but the ethical point is that a king’s power is meant to protect order by restraining and uprooting adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śaunaka characterizes various kinds of kings through vivid similes (snow, fire, Death, plough, thunderbolt), setting up a discussion on how rulers administer discipline and maintain social order.