Shloka 28
Adhyāya 39: Śiśupāla’s Censure and Bhīma’s Contained Wrath (शिशुपाल-निन्दा तथा भीमक्रोध-निग्रहः)
स एव हि मया वध्यो भविष्यति न संशय: । “राजाओ! केशी दैत्यका वध करनेवाले अनन्त-पराक्रमी भगवान् श्रीकृष्णकी मेरे द्वारा जो पूजा की गयी है, उसे आपलोगोंमेंसे जो सहन न कर सकें, उन सब बलवानोंके मस्तकपर मैंने यह पैर रख दिया। मैंने खूब सोच-समझकर यह बात कही है। जो इसका उत्तर देना चाहे, वह सामने आ जाय। मेरे द्वारा वह वधके योग्य होगा; इसमें संशय नहीं है
sa eva hi mayā vadhyo bhaviṣyati na saṁśayaḥ |
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “That very man shall be slain by me—of this there is no doubt.” In the surrounding speech, the speaker casts it as a deliberate challenge: having honored Kṛṣṇa, the slayer of the demon Keśin, the Lord of boundless might, he declares that whoever cannot endure that devotion and would contest it should step forward, and will be deemed fit to be killed. The ethical tension is plain—pride and provocation are asserted as warrant for violence, turning a religious act into a test of dominance.
वैशम्पायन उवाच