Shloka 16
नहि मे मुच्यते कश्चित् कथंचित् प्रग्रहं गतः गजो वा महिषो वापि षछ्ले काले नरोत्तम,“नरश्रेष्ठ। दिनके छठे भागमें कोई भैंसा अथवा हाथी ही क्यों न हो, मेरी पकड़में आ जानेपर किसी तरह छूट नहीं सकता
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: nahi me mucyate kaścit kathaṃcit pragrahaṃ gataḥ; gajo vā mahiṣo vāpi ṣaṣṭhe kāle narottama.
Vaiśampāyana said: “No one who has come within my grasp escapes me by any means—be he an elephant or a buffalo, O best of men—especially when the sixth part of the day has arrived.” The statement underscores an unyielding resolve and confidence in one’s power to restrain, hinting at the ethical tension between sheer force and rightful restraint in the unfolding episode.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights unwavering determination and the claim of irresistible control once someone is seized. Ethically, it invites reflection on whether strength is being used as rightful restraint or as coercive domination—an important tension in the Mahābhārata’s treatment of dharma.
Vaiśampāyana, narrating the events, reports a speaker’s emphatic declaration: once a being—however strong, like an elephant or buffalo—falls into his grasp, escape is impossible, particularly at a specified time marker (“the sixth part of the day”), which functions as a dramatic emphasis within the episode.