Shloka 31
खाण्डवदाहे देवविमुखता तथा मयदानवाभयदानम् | Khāṇḍava Burning: Devas Withdraw; Maya Granted Protection
अद्य निष्कौरवामेक: करिष्यामि वसुंधराम् । न हि मे मर्षणीयो5यमर्जुनस्य व्यतिक्रम:,“अर्जुनका यह अन्याय मेरे लिये असहा है। आज मैं अकेला ही इस वसुन्धराको कुरुवंशियोंसे विहीन कर दूँगा”
adya niṣkauravām ekaḥ kariṣyāmi vasuṃdharām | na hi me marṣaṇīyo ’yam arjunasya vyatikramaḥ ||
वैशम्पायन बोले—“आज मैं अकेला ही इस पृथ्वी को कौरवों से विहीन कर दूँगा। अर्जुन के प्रति यह अपराध मुझसे सहा नहीं जाएगा।”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of ‘vyatikrama’—a serious overstepping against a righteous person—and shows how perceived injustice can ignite vows of extreme retaliation. It implicitly warns that anger framed as justice can rapidly expand from punishing a wrongdoer to threatening collective destruction, raising questions about proportionality within dharma.
The speaker (as reported by Vaiśaṃpāyana) declares an immediate resolve: to rid the world of the Kauravas because an offense has been committed against Arjuna. The statement functions as a dramatic escalation—an oath-like proclamation that the wrong done to Arjuna is intolerable and will be answered with decisive, sweeping action.