Shloka 28
बक-राक्षसस्य आह्वानम् तथा वृक्षयुद्धम्
Summons of Baka and the Tree-Weapon Engagement
कि नु दुःखतरं शक्यं मया द्रष्टमत: परम् | यो5हमद्य नरव्याप्रान् सुप्तान् पश्यामि भूतले,“इससे बढ़कर दुःख मैं और कया देख सकता हूँ जबकि अपने नरश्रेष्ठ भाइयोंको आज मुझे धरतीपर सोते देखना पड़ रहा है
ki nu duḥkhataraṃ śakyaṃ mayā draṣṭum ataḥ param | yo 'ham adya naravyāprān suptān paśyāmi bhūtale ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Welchen Kummer könnte ich wohl sehen, der größer wäre als dieser? Denn heute muss ich jene Vordersten der Männer — meine eigenen Brüder — schlafend auf dem Boden erblicken.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of kinship and the human cost of calamity: even the ‘foremost of men’ are brought low, and witnessing the suffering or fall of one’s own brothers is presented as an unsurpassed sorrow—an implicit reminder of impermanence and the gravity of adharma-driven conflict.
The speaker expresses shock and grief at seeing his brothers—described honorifically as eminent men—lying on the ground as if asleep, a scene that typically signals defeat, unconsciousness, or death in epic narration.