Shloka 27

Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 22 — Draupadī’s Abduction Attempt and Bhīma’s Suppression of the Kīcakas

Devanagari script

“अतः महाबाहो! कीचक रातके समय उस सूनी नृत्यशालामें अकेला आवेगा। तुम वहीं उसे मार डालना ।। त॑ सूतपुत्रं कौन्तेय कीचकं मददर्पितम्‌ । गत्वा त्वं नर्तनागारं निर्जीवं कुरु पाण्डव,“कुन्तीकुमार! पाण्डुनन्दन! तुम नृत्यगृहमें जाकर उस मदोन्मत्त सूतपुत्र कीचकको प्राणशून्य कर दो

Transliteration

tāṃ sūtaputraṃ kaunteya kīcakaṃ madadarpitam | gatvā tvaṃ nartanāgāraṃ nirjīvaṃ kuru pāṇḍava ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Sohn der Kuntī, Pāṇḍava — geh in die Tanzhalle und mache jenen Kīcaka, den Sohn des Wagenlenkers, der vom Hochmut der Trunkenheit aufgebläht ist, leblos.“ Die Weisung rahmt Kīcakas Tötung als notwendige Tat, um Draupadīs Ehre zu schützen und einen mächtigen Übeltäter zu zügeln, dessen Machtmissbrauch die Grenzen des Dharma überschritten hat.

Word by Word

तंhim/that (person)

सूतपुत्रम्the charioteer’s son

कौन्तेयO son of Kuntī

कीचकम्Kīcaka

मददर्पितम्intoxicated with pride (made arrogant by intoxication)

गत्वाhaving gone

त्वम्you

नर्तनागारम्the dancing-hall

निर्जीवम्lifeless

कुरुmake/do

पाण्डवO Pāṇḍava

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kaunteya (a Pāṇḍava, contextually Bhīma)

Kīcaka

Nartanāgāra (dance-hall)

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?

When a powerful person becomes lawless through arrogance and violates another’s dignity, dharma may require decisive restraint of that wrongdoer. The verse presents force not as personal cruelty but as protective justice aimed at stopping ongoing adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Virāṭa court episode, Kīcaka has harassed Draupadī. A plan is set so that he comes alone to the dance-hall at night; the addressed Pāṇḍava (Bhīma, in disguise) is instructed to go there and kill Kīcaka.