Shloka 18
Aṣṭāvakra–Bandi Vāda at Janaka’s Assembly
Numerical Cosmology and Restitution
वृद्धान् बन्दी वादविदो निगृहा वादे भग्नानप्रतिशड्कमान: । त्वयाभिसूष्टे: पुरुषैराप्तकृद्धि- जले सर्वान् मज्जयतीति न: श्रुतम्,हमने सुना है कि आपके यहाँ बन्दी नामसे प्रसिद्ध कोई विद्वान् हैं जो वाद-विवादके मर्मको जाननेवाले कितने ही वृद्ध ब्राह्मणोंको शास्त्रार्थमें हराकर वशमें कर लेते हैं और फिर आपके ही दिये हुए विश्वसनीय पुरुषोंद्वारा उन सबको निःशंक होकर पानीमें डुबवा देते हैं
vṛddhān bandī vāda-vido nigṛhya vāde bhagnān apratiśaṅkamānaḥ | tvayābhiṣṭaiḥ puruṣair āpta-kṛddhi-jale sarvān majjayatīti naḥ śrutam ||
Aṣṭāvakra said: “We have heard that here there is a scholar famed as Bandī, skilled in the subtleties of debate. After subduing many aged brāhmaṇas by defeating them in disputation, he has them—without any fear or suspicion—made to be drowned in the water, by men appointed by you and considered trustworthy. Such is the report that has reached us.”
अष्टावक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical indictment: intellectual victory in debate does not justify coercion or lethal punishment. It implicitly questions a ruler’s dharma when state power is used to turn scholarly contest into violence, especially against venerable elders.
Aṣṭāvakra reports what he has heard about the court: a disputant named Bandī defeats elderly brāhmaṇas in debate, and then the king’s trusted agents drown the defeated in a body of water called Kṛddhi. The statement sets up a confrontation with this unjust practice.