Shloka 118

Devanagari script

त इमे सिंहविक्रान्ता वीर्येणा भ्यधिका: परै: । विहीनै: परिक्लिश्यन्तीं समुपैक्षन्त मां कथम्‌,ये सिंहके समान पराक्रमी पाण्डव बल-वीर्यमें शत्रुओंसे बढ़े-चढ़े हैं, इनसे सर्वथा हीन कौरव मुझे भरी सभामें कष्ट दे रहे थे, तो भी इन्होंने क्‍यों मेरी उपेक्षा की?

Transliteration

te ime siṁha-vikrāntā vīryeṇābhyadhikāḥ paraiḥ | vihīnaiḥ parikliśyantīṁ samupai kṣanta māṁ katham ||

Translation

“How could they ignore me? Those Pāṇḍavas are lion-like in prowess, surpassing their enemies in strength and valor. Yet when I was being tormented in the full assembly by the Kauravas—men utterly inferior to them—they still looked on with indifference.”

Word by Word

तेthey (those)

इमेthese

सिंह-विक्रान्ताःlion-striding, lion-like in prowess

वीर्येणby/with valor, strength

अभ्यधिकाःsuperior, exceeding

परैःthan others (than the enemies)

विहीनैःby those who are deficient/inferior

परिक्लिश्यन्तीम्being tormented, suffering

समुपैक्षन्तthey looked on, they neglected/overlooked

माम्me

कथम्how? why?

Speaker

राक्षस उवाच

Characters & Entities

Pāṇḍavas

Kauravas

sabhā (royal assembly)

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 highlights the ethical failure of powerful protectors who remain passive while injustice is done. Strength and superiority carry responsibility; indifference to wrongdoing becomes a moral lapse, especially when the victim is being publicly humiliated or harmed.

What is happening in the narrative?

A rākṣasa speaker questions why the mighty Pāṇḍavas—renowned for lion-like valor—did not intervene when the Kauravas, portrayed as inferior, were causing suffering in the royal assembly. The line frames their non-intervention as puzzling and blameworthy.