Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 82
Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 22 — Draupadī’s Abduction Attempt and Bhīma’s Suppression of the Kīcakas
तस्य पादौ च पाणी च शिरो ग्रीवां च सर्वश: । काये प्रवेशयामास पशोरिव पिनाकधूक्
tasya pādau ca pāṇī ca śiro grīvāṃ ca sarvaśaḥ | kāye praveśayāmāsa paśor iva pinākadhṛk ||
Vaiśampāyana said: He forced Kīcaka’s feet and hands, and his head and neck—indeed all his limbs—back into his own torso, as Pinākadhṛk (Śiva, bearer of the bow Pināka) once did to a sacrificial beast.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Adharma—especially the violation of a protected woman’s dignity—invites swift and uncompromising punishment. The text frames severe force as ethically intelligible when it serves protection, justice, and the safeguarding of a larger vow (the Pāṇḍavas’ incognito), rather than personal cruelty.
After overpowering Kiçaka, the avenger (contextually Bhīma) crushes and contorts him so completely that his limbs are forced back into his torso, leaving the body unrecognizable. The simile invokes Śiva (Pinākadhṛk) to emphasize overwhelming, almost superhuman might.