Shloka 29
Marutta’s Sacrifice and Agni’s Embassy (मरुत्त-यज्ञे दूतत्वम्)
इन्द्र वाच न गण्डिकाकारयोगं करे<णुं न चारिसोम॑ प्रपिबामि वल्ले न क्षीणशक्तौ प्रहरामि वजन को मे5सुखाय प्रहरेत मर्त्य:
śakra uvāca — na gaṇḍikākāra-yogaṁ kareṇuṁ na cāri-somaṁ prapibāmi valle | na kṣīṇa-śaktau praharāmi vajraṁ ko me sukhāya praharet martyaḥ ||
Śakra (Indra) dit : «Quand bien même je pourrais réduire une montagne à la taille d’une mouche, je ne bois pas le soma offert par un ennemi. Je ne frappe pas non plus de la foudre celui dont la force est déjà épuisée. Dès lors, quel mortel pourrait me frapper pour me faire souffrir ?»
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power is to be governed by restraint: one should not accept an enemy’s intoxicating/compromising offering, and one should not strike a weakened opponent. True strength includes ethical self-control.
Indra (Śakra) speaks of his immense capability, yet emphasizes his chosen limits—refusing an enemy’s soma and refusing to strike the enfeebled—then challenges the idea that any mortal could truly harm him.