Shloka 5
Duḥṣanta at Kaṇva-Āśrama; Śakuntalā’s Reception and Origin Prelude (दुःषन्तस्य कण्वाश्रमागमनम्)
दानवान् राक्षसांश्चैव गन्धर्वान् पन्नगांस्तथा । पुरुषादानि चान्यानि जघ्नु: सत्त्वान्यनेकश:,वे दानव, राक्षस, दुष्ट गन्धर्व, सर्प तथा अन्यान्य मनुष्यभक्षी जीवोंका बारम्बार संहार करने लगे। भरतश्रेष्ठ) वे बचपनमें भी इतने बलवान् थे कि दानव, राक्षस, गन्धर्व तथा सर्प उनका बाल बाँका तक नहीं कर पाते थे
dānavān rākṣasāṁś caiva gandharvān pannagāṁs tathā | puruṣādāni cānyāni jaghnuḥ sattvāny anekaśaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: They repeatedly slew many kinds of beings—Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Gandharvas, serpents, and other man-eating creatures. The passage underscores their extraordinary strength even in childhood, by which such hostile beings could not so much as harm them.
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames extraordinary strength as ethically meaningful when directed toward restraining or eliminating predatory, adharmic forces (man-eaters and violent beings), implying a protective duty toward society rather than violence for its own sake.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes how the protagonists repeatedly killed various hostile non-human beings—Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Gandharvas, serpents, and other man-eaters—highlighting that even from childhood they were so powerful that such beings could not injure them.