Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 72
Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 22 — Draupadī’s Abduction Attempt and Bhīma’s Suppression of the Kīcakas
क्रोधाविष्टो विनि:श्वस्य पुनश्चैनं वृकोदर: । जग्राह जयतां श्रेष्ठ: केशेष्वेव तदा भूशम्
krodhāviṣṭo viniḥśvasya punaś cainaṃ vṛkodaraḥ | jagrāha jayatāṃ śreṣṭhaḥ keśeṣv eva tadā bhṛśam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Still seized by anger and breathing hard again and again, Vṛkodara—Bhīmasena, foremost among victors—once more gripped Kīcaka forcefully by the hair. The scene underscores how righteous wrath, once unleashed in defense of honor and justice, can remain intense until the wrongdoer is fully subdued.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension between anger and duty: when confronting grave wrongdoing, force may be employed to uphold dharma, yet the narrative also shows how anger can persist and must ultimately be governed by righteous purpose rather than personal rage.
Bhīma (Vṛkodara), still inflamed with anger and breathing heavily, again seizes Kīcaka by the hair, continuing the overpowering of Kīcaka in the climactic confrontation of the Kīcaka episode in the Virāṭa court.