Shloka 42
द्रौपदी-स्वयंवर-प्रारम्भः
Commencement of Draupadī’s Svayaṃvara
स ताउछत्त्यवरान् पुत्रान् वसिष्ठस्थ महात्मन: । भक्षयामास संक्रुद्धः सिंह: क्षुद्रमूगानिव,जैसे क्रोधमें भरा हुआ सिंह छोटे मृगोंको खा जाता है, उसी प्रकार उन (राक्षसभावापन्न) नरेशने महात्मा वसिष्ठके उन सब पुत्रोंको भी, जो शक्तिसे छोटे थे, (मारकर) खा लिया
sa tān ucchittya-varān putrān vasiṣṭhasya mahātmanaḥ | bhakṣayāmāsa saṅkruddhaḥ siṃhaḥ kṣudra-mṛgān iva ||
Jener König, von rākṣasa-hafter Gesinnung und von Zorn entflammt, erschlug die Söhne des großherzigen Vasiṣṭha—an Kraft geringer als er—und verschlang sie, wie ein Löwe kleine Hirsche verschlingt.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Uncontrolled anger (krodha) dehumanizes: it turns authority into predation. The verse frames the act as lion-like devouring of the weak, highlighting adharma—especially grave when directed against a sage’s family—showing how power without restraint violates ethical and social order.
A wrathful king, having taken on a rākṣasa-like disposition, slays the sons of the sage Vasiṣṭha—described as weaker in power—and then devours them, compared to a lion consuming small deer.