Shloka 186
Adhyāya 227: Duryodhana’s Deliberation and the Ghoṣa-yātrā Pretext
Dvaita-vana
त्रैलोक्यं संनिगृह्ास्मांस्त्वां च शक्र महाबल । मार्कण्डेयजी कहते हैं--राजन! उस समय स्कन्दके जन्म और बल-पराक्रमका समाचार सुनकर सब देवताओंने एकत्र हो इन्द्रसे कहा--'देवेश्वर! स्कन्दका बल असहा है। शीघ्र उन्हें मार डालिये; विलम्ब न कीजिये। महाबली इन्द्र! यदि आप इन्हें अभी नहीं मारते हैं तो ये त्रिलोकीको, हम सबको तथा आपको भी अपने वशमें करके “देवेन्द्र” बन बैठेंगे!
trailokyaṁ saṁnigṛhṇāsmāṁs tvāṁ ca śakra mahābala |
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “O mighty Śakra (Indra)! If he is not checked at once, he will subdue the three worlds—us all and even you—and will seat himself as ‘lord of the gods.’”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unchecked power, even when arising from extraordinary strength, is portrayed as a threat to cosmic order; the verse frames the ethical anxiety that authority must be restrained and legitimized, not seized by force.
Mārkaṇḍeya reports the gods’ alarm to Indra: they fear that the newly powerful figure (contextually Skanda) will overpower the three worlds and even Indra, effectively usurping the title and position of ‘Deveśa/Devendra.’