Shloka 25
Bhāgīratha’s Tapas and the Petition to Gaṅgā (गङ्गावतरण-प्रसङ्गः)
असुरोरगरक्षांसि सत्त्वानि विविधानि च । आर्तनादमकुर्वन्त वध्यमानानि सागरै:,एक साथ लगे हुए सगरकुमारोंके खोदनेपर सब ओरसे विदीर्ण होनेवाले समुद्रको बड़ी पीड़ाका अनुभव होता था। सगरपुत्रोंके हाथों मारे जाते हुए असुर, नाग, राक्षस और नाना प्रकारके जन्तु बड़े जोरसे आर्तनाद करते थे
asuroragarakṣāṃsi sattvāni vividhāni ca | ārtanādam akurvanta vadhyamānāni sāgaraiḥ ||
As the sons of Sagara pressed on with their violent digging, the beings dwelling below—Asuras, Nāgas, Rākṣasas, and many other kinds of creatures—were struck down and, in their suffering, raised loud cries of distress. The scene underscores how unchecked zeal and wrath, even when driven by a royal purpose, can spill into indiscriminate harm against countless lives.
लोगश उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical danger of uncontrolled aggression: when a powerful group pursues its aim with fury, the harm can become indiscriminate, causing widespread suffering to many beings—an implicit call to restraint and discernment in action (dharma).
Sagara’s sons are violently excavating (in the broader episode, searching for what was lost), and in the process they kill subterranean beings—Asuras, Nāgas, Rākṣasas, and other creatures—who cry out in agony as they are slain.