Shloka 23
उन्हें भीमसेनके वधकी आशंकासे पीड़ित और क्रोध-शून्य हुआ जान पुरुषोत्तम श्रीकृष्णने इस प्रकार कहा-- ।। मा शुचो धृतराष्ट्र त्वं नैष भीमस्त्वया हत: । आयसी प्रतिमा होषा त्वया निष्पातिता विभो,“महाराज धृतराष्ट्र् आप शोक न करें। ये भीम आपके हाथसे नहीं मारे गये हैं। प्रभो! यह तो लोहेकी एक प्रतिमा थी, जिसे आपने चूर-चूर कर डाला
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
mā śuco dhṛtarāṣṭra tvaṃ naiṣa bhīmas tvayā hataḥ |
āyasī pratimā hy eṣā tvayā niṣpātitā vibho ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Do not grieve, O Dhṛtarāṣṭra. This is not Bhīma slain by your hand. O mighty one, what you have shattered is only an iron image.” In context, Kṛṣṇa calms the blind king’s fear and remorse, revealing that the violent act did not truly harm the living person—yet it still exposes the danger of rage and the need for restraint even amid grief.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in overwhelming grief, one must restrain anger and avoid harmful action; Kṛṣṇa’s reassurance prevents further moral collapse, while also highlighting that violent impulses—though sometimes diverted—remain ethically perilous.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, fearing he has killed Bhīma in a fit of rage, is told that the object he crushed was only an iron effigy; Kṛṣṇa (as narrated by Vaiśampāyana) calms him and reveals the protective substitution.