Shloka 15
अर्जुनस्य लक्ष्यवेधः
Arjuna’s Hitting of the Target at the Svayaṃvara
नानीशैहिं तदा तात भगुभिभवितात्मभि: | वधो हापेक्षित: सर्व: क्षत्रियाणां विहिंसताम्
nāniśaiḥ tadā tāta bhṛgubhir bhāvitātmabhiḥ | vadho hāpekṣitaḥ sarvaḥ kṣatriyāṇāṁ vihiṁsatām ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “Dear child, do not think that, when the Kṣatriyas were committing violence against us, we—Bhṛgus of purified and disciplined mind—silently accepted the slaughter of our entire clan out of helplessness. That was not the reason for our forbearance.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vasiṣṭha rejects the idea that moral restraint equals weakness: the Bhṛgus’ endurance of violence was grounded in cultivated self-control and ethical choice, not helpless submission.
Vasiṣṭha addresses a younger listener (“tāta”), clarifying that when Kṣatriyas attacked and killed members of the Bhṛgu lineage, the Brahmins did not passively accept the massacre because they were incapable; he is reframing their response as principled restraint.