Shloka 54
Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 33 — Kuru Cattle-Raid and Matsya Mobilization (भूमिंजय-प्रेरणा)
नायं पापसमाचारो मत्तो जीवितुम्ति । कि तु शक्यं मया कर्तु यद् राजा सततं घृणी,जब वे सब राजाके सामने आकर खड़े हुए, तब भीमसेन बोले--'यह पापाचारी सुशर्मा मेरे हाथसे छूटकर जीवित रहनेयोग्य तो नहीं है; परंतु मैं कर ही क्या सकता हूँ? हमारे महाराज सदाके दयालु हैं!
naayaṁ pāpasamācāro matto jīvitum iti | kintu śakyaṁ mayā kartuṁ yad rājā satataṁ ghṛṇī ||
Bhīmasena erklärte: „Dieser ruchlose Suśarmā verdient es nicht, meinen Händen zu entkommen und am Leben zu bleiben. Doch was kann ich tun? Unser König ist stets voll Erbarmen.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between deserved punishment and royal compassion: personal wrath (even when justified) is restrained by dharma as embodied in the king’s consistent mercy.
After Suśarmā is brought before the assembled kings, Bhīma expresses that Suśarmā merits death and should not escape his hands, but he is constrained because the ruling king is habitually compassionate and does not permit such killing.