Shloka 86
Kirmīra-rākṣasa-saṃgamaḥ (Encounter and Slaying of Kirmīra) | किर्मीरेण सह भीमसेनसमागमः
पुन: सुप्तानुपाधाक्षीद् बालकान् वारणावते । शयानानार्यया सार्ध को नु तत् कर्तुमहति,इतना ही नहीं, वारणावतमें आर्या कुन्तीके साथमें ये बालक पाण्डव सो रहे थे, उस समय उसने घरमें आग लगवा दी। ऐसा दुष्कर्म दूसरा कौन कर सकता है?
punaḥ suptān upādhākṣīd bālakān vāraṇāvate | śayānān āryayā sārdha ko nu tat kartum arhati ||
Again, while the young princes were asleep at Vāraṇāvata—lying together with the noble lady Kuntī—he had the house set on fire. Who else could be capable of such a deed of utter wickedness?
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns treachery and the targeting of the innocent: setting fire to a dwelling while children and their mother sleep is presented as an extreme violation of dharma, highlighting how adharma operates through deceit rather than open confrontation.
Vaiśampāyana recounts the attempted murder at Vāraṇāvata: while the young Pāṇḍavas lay asleep with Kuntī, their enemies arranged for the house to be set ablaze, and the narrator underscores the shocking cruelty of the act.