Shloka 23

बकवधोत्तर-प्रशमनम् | Post-slaying Stabilization after Baka’s Death

Devanagari script

कुतस्त्वमसि सम्प्राप्त: कश्नासि पुरुषर्षभ । क इमे शेरते चेह पुरुषा देवरूपिण:,हिडिम्बा इच्छानुसार रूप धारण करनेवाली थी। वह मानवजातिकी स्त्रीके समान सुन्दर रूप बनाकर लजीली ललनाकी भाँति धीरे-धीरे महाबाहु भीमसेनके पास गयी। दिव्य आभूषण उसकी शोभा बढ़ा रहे थे। तब उसने मुसकराकर भीमसेनसे इस प्रकार पूछा --'पुरुषरत्न! आप कौन हैं और कहाँसे आये हैं? ये देवताओंके समान सुन्दर रूपवाले पुरुष कौन हैं, जो यहाँ सो रहे हैं?

Transliteration

kutas tvam asi samprāptaḥ kaś nāsi puruṣarṣabha | ka ime śerate ceha puruṣā devarūpiṇaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “From where have you come here, and who are you, O best of men? And who are these men of godlike appearance who lie sleeping here?”

Word by Word

कुतःfrom where

त्वम्you

असिare

सम्प्राप्तःarrived, come

कःwho

नुindeed/then (interrogative particle)

असिare

पुरुषर्षभO bull among men

कःwho

इमेthese

शेरतेlie, are sleeping

चand

इहhere

पुरुषाःmen

देवरूपिणःhaving divine forms, godlike

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Bhīmasena (implied addressee in narrative context)

Hiḍimbā (contextual speaker of the question in the episode)

Sleeping men (the Pāṇḍavas, contextually)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds dharmic caution and discernment in first encounters: before acting—whether with welcome, fear, or aggression—one should inquire into identity and intention. It also highlights the epic’s recurring ethic of protecting the vulnerable (here, sleepers) by first understanding the situation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Hiḍimbā episode, a being who can assume forms approaches Bhīma while the others sleep and questions him: where he has come from, who he is, and who the godlike men are lying there. This sets up the ensuing interaction and conflict involving the rākṣasa Hiḍimba and the Pāṇḍavas.