Shloka 23
शृण्वन्तु मे महीपाला येनैतत् क्षमितं मया । अपराधशकतं क्षाम्यं मातुरस्यैव याचने,“यहाँ बैठे हुए सब महीपाल यह सुन लें कि मैंने क्यों अबतक इसके अपराध क्षमा किये हैं? इसीकी माताके याचना करनेपर मैंने उसे यह प्रार्थित वर दिया था कि शिशुपालके सौ अपराध क्षमा कर दूँगा। राजाओ! वे सब अपराध अब पूरे हो गये हैं; अतः आप सभी भूमिपतियोंके देखते-देखते मैं अभी इसका वध किये देता हूँ”
śṛṇvantu me mahīpālā yenaitat kṣamitaṃ mayā | aparādhaśataṃ kṣāmyaṃ mātur asyaiva yācane |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Let all the kings listen to me and understand why I have tolerated and forgiven this man until now. At the request of his own mother, I had granted the boon that I would pardon Śiśupāla’s hundred offenses. O rulers, those offenses have now been completed; therefore, in full view of you all, I shall at once put him to death.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical tension between compassion and justice: forgiveness can be offered out of respect for a legitimate plea (here, a mother’s request) and bound by a vow, but persistent wrongdoing eventually exhausts the limits of forbearance, after which punishment becomes a duty carried out transparently before the community.
In the royal assembly, Śiśupāla has repeatedly insulted and offended. The speaker explains to the gathered kings that these offenses were previously pardoned because of a boon granted to Śiśupāla’s mother—pardon of one hundred offenses. Now that the count is complete, the speaker declares that Śiśupāla will be slain immediately in the presence of all.