Shloka 53
युधिष्ठिरकृष्णसंवादः — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Appeal and Kṛṣṇa’s Assurance
Droṇa-parva, Adhyāya 59
जघान समरे क्रुद्धः पुरेव तयम्बको5न्धकम् | वहाँ पुलस्त्यवंशी राक्षसोंको उके सुहृदों और बन्धु-बान्धवोंसहित मारकर श्रीरामने अपने प्रधान अपराधी अत्यन्त घोर मायावी लोककंटक पुलस्त्यनन्दन रावणको, जो दूसरोंके द्वारा कभी जीता नहीं गया था, कुपित होकर समरभूमिमें मार डाला। ठीक उसी तरह, जैसे पूर्वकालमें भगवान् शंकरने अन्धकासुरको मारा था
jaghāna samare kruddhaḥ pureva tryambako 'ndhakam | tathā pulastyavaṁśī rākṣasān uktān suhṛdbāndhavabāndhava-sahitān hatvā śrīrāmo 'pi svapradhānāparādhinaṁ atyanta-ghora-māyāvinaṁ lokakaṇṭakaṁ pulastyanandanaṁ rāvaṇaṁ yaḥ parair kadācij jito na, kupitaḥ samara-bhūmau jaghāna | yathā pūrvakāle bhagavān śaṅkaro 'ndhakāsuraṁ jaghāna ||
Nārada said: Enraged in battle, he slew him—just as, in ancient times, Tryambaka (Śiva) slew Andhaka. In the same way, after slaying the Rākṣasas of Pulastya’s line together with their friends and kinsmen, Śrī Rāma, wrathful on the battlefield, struck down Rāvaṇa—Pulastya’s descendant—an exceedingly dreadful master of illusion, a scourge of the world, the chief offender, and one who had never before been conquered by others. The verse frames the act as the removal of a world-threatening wrongdoer, likening righteous wrath in war to Śiva’s destruction of the demon Andhaka.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents the ethical idea that a ruler/hero may employ force in war when it is directed toward removing a ‘lokakaṇṭaka’—a dangerous public menace—especially one marked as the principal wrongdoer. It legitimizes such action by aligning it with a paradigmatic divine act (Śiva’s slaying of Andhaka), implying that righteous protection of the world can require decisive punishment of grievous offenders.
Nārada describes a killing in battle and illustrates it through a well-known analogy: as Śiva once killed the demon Andhaka, so too Rāma, after destroying Rākṣasas of Pulastya’s line along with their allies, killed Rāvaṇa—depicted as an unconquered, illusion-wielding scourge of the world—on the battlefield.