Shloka 24
Droṇa–Vidura–Gāndhārī Counsel in the Royal Assembly (धर्मार्थयुक्ता सभा-उपदेश-प्रकरणम्)
ततो रामेण समरे द्वन्द्ययुद्धमुपागमम् । स हि रामभयादेभिननागिरैरविप्रवासित:,“तदनन्तर एक समय मैं परशुरामजीके साथ द्वन्धयुद्धके लिये समरभूमिमें उतरा। उन दिनों परशुरामजीके भयसे यहाँके नागरिकोंने राजा विचित्रवीर्यको इस नगरसे दूर हटा दिया था
tato rāmeṇa samare dvandvayuddham upāgamam | sa hi rāmabhayād ebhiḥ nāgikaiḥ aviprāvāsitaḥ ||
«Puis, sur le champ de bataille, j’entrai dans un duel singulier avec Rāma (Paraśurāma). Car en ces jours-là, par crainte de Rāma, les habitants d’ici avaient chassé le roi Vichitravīrya de la cité, l’envoyant en exil.»
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how fear can destabilize dharmic governance: when a community acts from panic before a powerful figure, it may abandon loyalty to rightful authority and commit ethically fraught acts like expelling a king.
Vāyudeva recounts that he engaged Paraśurāma in a duel on the battlefield, and notes that at that time the local citizens, frightened of Paraśurāma, had forced King Vicitravīrya to leave the city.