Shloka 18
Virāṭa’s Mobilization to Recover the Cattle (गोधनरक्षणार्थ विराटस्य सैन्यसमायोजनम्)
अत्यन्तं वा प्रणष्टास्ते प्राप्ता वापि यमक्षयम् । यामो राजन् निरुद्धिग्ना विराटनगरं वयम् | आदास्यामो हि गास्तस्य विविधानि वसूनि च
atyantaṁ vā praṇaṣṭās te prāptā vāpi yamakṣayam | yāmo rājan niruddhignā virāṭanagaraṁ vayam || ādāsyāmo hi gās tasya vividhāni vasūni ca ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O King, whether they have utterly disappeared or have even reached the abode of Yama, we should proceed without anxiety to the city of Virāṭa. There we shall seize Virāṭa’s cattle and also his various treasures.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a mindset of calculated fearlessness used in pursuit of an unethical aim: the speaker urges proceeding ‘without anxiety’ even if opponents are dead or missing, in order to seize another king’s cattle and wealth. It implicitly contrasts strategic resolve with the moral problem of plunder (a movement toward adharma).
In the Virāṭa episode, counsel is being given to go to Virāṭa’s city and carry off his cattle and valuables. The speaker frames the plan as safe regardless of what has happened to potential resistance, invoking even the possibility that they have reached Yama’s realm.