Mahabharata 1.151.40 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 151, Shloka 40
बक-राक्षसस्य आह्वानम् तथा वृक्षयुद्धम्
Summons of Baka and the Tree-Weapon Engagement
गत्वा क्रोधसमाविष्ट: प्रेषयिष्ये यमक्षयम् | कि नु शक्यं मया कर्तु यत् ते न क्रुध्यते नृप:
gatvā krodhasamāviṣṭaḥ preṣayiṣye yamākṣayam | ki nu śakyaṃ mayā kartuṃ yat te na krudhyate nṛpaḥ ||
Overcome with anger, he thought, “I could go and send him to Yama’s imperishable realm. Yet what can I do, when the king does not grow wrathful toward you?” The passage frames Bhīma’s fury as checked by Yudhiṣṭhira’s dharmic restraint: even when vengeance seems within reach, the righteous ruler refuses to authorize a killing driven by rage, and thus the violent impulse is held back by ethical kingship and self-control.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one has the power to punish, dharma requires restraint: anger must not become the basis of action, and a righteous king’s refusal to act from wrath can prevent violence and uphold ethical order.
The speaker reports a moment of intense fury—someone feels capable of sending an enemy to death (‘Yama’s realm’)—but is checked because the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) does not become angry and does not sanction such an act.
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