Shloka 20
Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 25: Kaurava Deliberation and the Search Directive (अन्वेषण-आदेशः)
येन त्रिगर्ता निहता बलेन महता नृप । सूतेन राज्ञों मत्स्यस्य कीचकेन बलीयसा
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
yena trigartā nihatā balena mahatā nṛpa |
sūtena rājño matsyasya kīcakena balīyasā ||
… gandharvair asau duṣṭātmā sahodara-bhrātṛbhiḥ saha rātrau gupta-rūpeṇa nihataḥ |
sa idānīṃ śmaśāna-bhūmau patitaḥ supta iva tiṣṭhati ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O king, those Trigartas were once crushed by the mighty force of Kīcaka—the powerful charioteer’s son who served King Virāṭa of Matsya. That same wicked-souled man has now been slain at night, in secret, together with his own brothers, by the Gandharvas. Now he lies fallen in the cremation-ground, as if asleep.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power gained through wrongdoing and arrogance is unstable; the ‘duṣṭātmā’ meets a sudden, shame-marked end (lying in the cremation-ground). The verse frames moral consequence and social disgrace as inseparable from violent misconduct.
Vaiśampāyana reports that Kīcaka—previously famed for crushing the Trigartas with a great force—has now been killed at night, secretly, along with his brothers, by ‘Gandharvas’ (a cover-story for unknown assailants). His body lies in the cremation-ground.