Shloka 31
Kuvalāśva’s Lineage and Uttaṅka’s Petition concerning Dhundhu (धुन्धु-प्रसङ्गः)
न हि क्षम्यते तन््मया हनिष्याम्येतानेतैर्दुरात्मभि: प्रिया मे भक्षिता सर्वथैव मे वध्या मण्डूका नाहसि विद्वन् मामुपरोद्भधुमिति,“मैं क्षमा नहीं कर सकता। इन मेढकोंको अवश्य मारूँगा। इन दुरात्माओंने मेरी प्रियतमाको खा लिया है। अतः ये मेढक मेरे लिये सर्वथा वध्य ही हैं। विद्वन! आप मुझे उनके वधसे न रोकें”
na hi kṣamyate tanmayā haniṣyāmyetān etair durātmabhiḥ priyā me bhakṣitā sarvathaiva me vadhyā maṇḍūkā nāhasi vidvan mām uparoddhum iti
Vaiśampāyana said: “I cannot forgive this. I will surely kill these frogs. Those wicked creatures have devoured my beloved; therefore, for me, these frogs are wholly deserving of death. O wise one, you should not restrain me from slaying them.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse dramatizes the ethical tension between grief-driven vengeance and the dharmic ideal of restraint. The speaker insists on retribution for a personal loss, while the presence of a “wise one” implies a countervailing moral voice: that anger can distort judgment and that punishment should not be driven solely by passion.
A character, speaking within Vaiśampāyana’s narration, declares that he cannot forgive the frogs because they have devoured his beloved. He resolves to kill them and tells a learned person not to stop him, setting up a moral confrontation between impulsive retaliation and counsel toward self-control.