Shloka 21
तुम्हारे हितके लिये मैंने ही युद्धके मुहानेपर उसे मार डाला था। पराक्रमी चेदिराज शिशुपाल तो तुम्हारी आँखोंके सामने ही मारा गया था
tumhāre hitake liye mayāiva yuddhasya mukhāne ’para sa māritaḥ. parākramī cedirājaḥ śiśupālaḥ tu tumhākaṃ cakṣuṣoḥ samakṣam eva māritaḥ
For your welfare, I myself struck him down at the very mouth of battle. And the valiant king of Cedi, Śiśupāla, was slain right before your very eyes.
श्रीवायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames killing in war through an ethical lens of protection: an act presented as harsh but undertaken ‘for your welfare.’ It highlights the Mahābhārata theme that outcomes in conflict are often attributed to higher agency and prior moral causality, not merely human prowess.
Vāyudeva speaks, claiming responsibility for slaying someone at the very outset of battle for the listener’s benefit, and cites the well-known example of Śiśupāla, the king of Cedi, being killed openly before their eyes—invoking a precedent of decisive, witnessed destruction of a powerful foe.