Shloka 65
राजोवाच इक्ष्वाकवो हन्त चरामि व: प्रियं निहन्मीमं विप्रमद्य प्रमथ्य । आनीयतामपरस्तिग्मतेजा: पश्यध्वं मे वीर्यमद्य क्षितीशा:,राजाने कहा--इक्ष्वाकुवंशी क्षत्रियो! मैं अभी तुम्हारा प्रिय करता हूँ। आज इस ब्राह्मणको रौंदकर मार डालूँगा। एक-दूसरा तेजस्वी बाण ले आओ और आज मेरा पराक्रम देखो
rājovāca—ikṣvākavo hanta carāmi vaḥ priyaṃ nihanyīmāṃ vipram adya pramathya | ānīyatām aparaḥ tigmatejāḥ paśyadhvaṃ me vīryam adya kṣitīśāḥ ||
The king said: “O descendants of Ikṣvāku, come—today I shall do what pleases you. I will crush and kill this brāhmaṇa here and now. Bring me another arrow, keen and blazing in power; behold my prowess today, O lords of the earth.” The utterance highlights a ruler’s lapse into arrogance and violence, framing an ethical warning: royal might, when driven by the desire to gratify others and by contempt for a brāhmaṇa, turns into adharma and invites ruin.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse serves as an ethical caution: when a ruler uses power to win approval and indulges in contempt toward a brāhmaṇa, valor becomes cruelty and slips into adharma. True kṣatriya strength is restrained by dharma, not driven by pride or the urge to please onlookers.
A king addresses the Ikṣvāku-descended nobles and boasts that he will crush and kill a brāhmaṇa. He orders another sharp, powerful arrow to be brought and calls on the assembled ‘earth-lords’ to witness his prowess, signaling an impending act of violence and hubris.