Shloka 65
Kirmīra-rākṣasa-saṃgamaḥ (Encounter and Slaying of Kirmīra) | किर्मीरेण सह भीमसेनसमागमः
नन्वहं कृष्ण भीष्मस्य धृतराष्ट्रस्य चो भयो: । स््नुषा भवामि धर्मेण साहं दासीकृता बलात्,श्रीकृष्ण! मैं धर्मतः भीष्म और धृतराष्ट्र दोनोंकी पुत्रवधू हूँ, तो भी उनके सामने ही बलपूर्वक दासी बनायी गयी
nanv ahaṃ kṛṣṇa bhīṣmasya dhṛtarāṣṭrasya cobhayoḥ | snuṣā bhavāmi dharmeṇa sāhaṃ dāsīkṛtā balāt ||
“And yet, O Kṛṣṇa, by the rule of dharma I am the daughter-in-law of both Bhīṣma and Dhṛtarāṣṭra; still, right before them, I was forcibly reduced to the status of a slave.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic contradiction: a woman who is legally and morally a protected family member (a daughter-in-law) is nevertheless publicly violated and degraded. It underscores the ethical collapse that occurs when elders and guardians fail to uphold dharma in the face of power and coercion.
A wronged woman addresses Kṛṣṇa, reminding him that by dharma she stands in the relation of daughter-in-law to the Kuru elders Bhīṣma and Dhṛtarāṣṭra, yet she was forcibly treated as a slave in their very presence—an accusation that intensifies the moral gravity of the Kuru court’s inaction.