Shloka 176
Prajñā as Pratiṣṭhā — Indra–Kāśyapa Saṃvāda (Śānti-parva 12.173)
अस्य मांसैरिमे सर्वे विहरन्तु यथेष्टत: । तब राजाने अपने पुत्रको आज्ञा दी--'बेटा! इस पापीको मार डालो। ये समस्त राक्षस इसके मांसका यथेष्ट उपयोग करें
asya māṁsair ime sarve viharantu yatheṣṭataḥ |
Bhīṣma said: “Let all these beings feast and sport as they please upon this man’s flesh.” In the surrounding narrative, the king, judging the offender as grievously sinful, orders his son: “Son, kill this wicked man, so that these rākṣasas may make full use of his flesh as they wish.” The passage highlights a harsh, punitive response framed as retribution and deterrence, raising ethical tension between royal justice and cruelty.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse, within a rājadharma context, illustrates the extreme end of punitive justice—punishment meant to match perceived sin and to deter wrongdoing—while implicitly inviting reflection on the boundary between lawful retribution and inhumane cruelty.
Bhīṣma quotes or reports a command: the offender is to be killed, and rākṣasas are permitted to consume his flesh ‘as they please.’ A king instructs his son to carry out the execution, presenting the act as a response to grave wrongdoing.