Shloka 53
इन्द्रस्य पाण्डवैः समागमः
Indra’s Meeting with the Pāṇḍavas
इदं चाश्चर्यभूतं मे यत् क्रोधात् तस्य धीमतः । तदैव त्वं न निर्दग्ध: सबल: सपदानुग:,मुझे इस बातके लिये बड़ा आश्चर्य होता है कि उन बुद्धिमान् महर्षिके क्रोधसे आप उसी समय अपने सेवकों और सैनिकोंसहित जलकर भस्म क्यों नहीं हो गये?
idaṃ cāścaryabhūtaṃ me yat krodhāt tasya dhīmataḥ | tadaiva tvaṃ na nirdagdhaḥ sabalaḥ sapadānugaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “And this is another thing that fills me with wonder: that when that wise great seer became wrathful, you were not at once burned to ashes—together with your attendants and your armed force.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the feared potency of a sage’s ascetic power when joined with anger, and implicitly points to the ethical ideal of restraint: spiritual power is immense, but its righteous use depends on self-control and dharma.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses someone who has apparently provoked a wise seer. He expresses amazement that, despite the seer’s wrath, the person was not instantly destroyed along with his followers and troops—underscoring the extraordinary power attributed to great ṛṣis in the forest narratives.