Shloka 26
मया न निहतः: पूर्वमेष युष्मत्प्रियेप्सपा,तुमलोगोंका प्रिय करनेकी इच्छासे ही मैंने इसे पहले नहीं मारा था। यह ब्राह्मणों और यज्ञोंसे द्वेष रखनेवाला तथा धर्मका लोप करनेवाला पापात्मा राक्षस था; इसीलिये इसे मरवा दिया है
mayā na nihataḥ pūrvam eṣa yuṣmat-priya-īpsayā | brāhmaṇānāṁ yajñānāṁ ca dveṣṭā dharma-lopa-karaḥ pāpātmā rākṣasaḥ | tasmād eṣa māritaḥ ||
Vāyu-deva said: “I did not kill him earlier, only because I wished to do what was pleasing to you. But this rākṣasa was a sinful being—one who hated brāhmaṇas and sacrificial rites, and who worked to destroy dharma. Therefore he has now been caused to be slain.”
श्रीवायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames violence as ethically permissible only when directed toward the protection of dharma: a being who actively destroys dharma and attacks brāhmaṇas and yajñas is presented as deserving punishment. It also highlights restraint—Vāyu claims he delayed action out of regard for what would please others, implying that power should be exercised with deliberation and moral purpose.
Vāyu-deva explains why a rākṣasa has now been slain. He states that he had not killed the being earlier because he wished to act in a way pleasing to the addressed party, but since the rākṣasa was hostile to brāhmaṇas and sacrificial rites and was undermining dharma, Vāyu ensured (or caused) his death.