Shloka 49
मैत्रेयागमनम् — The Arrival of Maitreya and the Admonition to Duryodhana
मुज्जवज्जर्जरीभूता बहवस्तत्र पादपा:,वहाँ उस महान् वनमें बहुत-से वृक्ष मूँजकी भाँति जर्जर हो गये थे। वे फटे चीथड़ोंकी तरह इधर-उधर फैले हुए सुशोभित होते थे। भरतश्रेष्ठ! राक्षसराज किर्मीर और मनुष्योंमें श्रेष्ठ भीमसेनका वह वृक्षयुद्ध दो घड़ीतक चलता रहा
muñjavad jarjarībhūtā bahavas tatra pādapāḥ | tatra mahati vane bahavaḥ vṛkṣā muñjavad jarjarībhūtāḥ | te phaṭa-cīravad itas-tataḥ prasṛtāḥ śobhamānā babhūvuḥ | bharataśreṣṭha! rākṣasarājaḥ kirmīraḥ manuṣyeṣu śreṣṭho bhīmasenaś ca tayor vṛkṣayuddhaṃ dve ghaṭike yāvat pravavṛte |
Vidura schildert, wie in jenem weiten Wald viele Bäume zerschlagen und zermürbt dalagen, ausgefranst wie Muñja-Gras. Gespalten und zerstreut wie zerrissene Lumpen lagen sie umher, und doch war das Bild in seiner Gewalt seltsam lebendig. O Bester der Bhāratas, der Baumkampf zwischen dem Rākṣasa-König Kirmīra und Bhīmasena, dem Vornehmsten unter den Menschen, währte zwei Ghaṭikās.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights that sheer power can devastate the natural world, but the ethical lens of the epic invites the reader to judge strength by restraint and purpose. In dharmic terms, force is not praised merely for its intensity; it is weighed by whether it protects the righteous and is exercised with self-control.
Vidura narrates a fierce duel in the forest: the rākṣasa-king Kirmīra and Bhīmasena fight by uprooting and wielding trees. The violence is so intense that many trees become frayed and shattered like muñja-grass and lie scattered, and the tree-combat continues for about two ghaṭikās.