Shloka 223
सुरभि–इन्द्रसंवादः
Surabhi–Indra Dialogue as a Governance Exemplar
हिडिम्बबकमुख्यानां किर्मीरस्य च रक्षस: । वे सब-के-सब सत्यव्रतधारी और अपने पौरुषपर अभिमान रखनेवाले हैं। इच्छानुसार रूप धारण करनेवाले देवद्रोही हिडिम्ब आदि राक्षसोंका तथा राक्षसजातीय किर्मीरका वध भी उन्होंने ही किया है
Hiḍimbabakamukhyānāṁ Kirmīrasya ca rakṣasaḥ | te sarve satyavratadhāriṇaḥ sva-pauruṣeṇa cābhimāninaḥ | icchānusāra-rūpa-dhāriṇo devadrohiṇaḥ Hiḍimbādayo rākṣasāḥ tathā rākṣasajātiyaḥ Kirmīraś ca—teṣāṁ vadhaṁ api sa eva kṛtavān |
Maitreya said: “Hiḍimba and the other foremost rākṣasas, as well as the rākṣasa Kirmīra—these all prided themselves on their might and held fast to their chosen vows. Those god-opposing rākṣasas such as Hiḍimba, who could assume forms at will, and Kirmīra of the rākṣasa race too—he alone brought about their destruction.”
मैत्रेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power and extraordinary abilities, when joined with hostility to divine and moral order (devadroha), lead to destruction; righteous strength is portrayed as protective—removing violent threats from society and the forest-path of the virtuous.
Maitreya recalls the slaying of dangerous rākṣasas—Hiḍimba and Kirmīra—highlighting their pride and supernatural powers, and emphasizing that a single heroic figure (contextually, Bhīma) eliminated them.