Shloka 20
Adhyāya 227: Duryodhana’s Deliberation and the Ghoṣa-yātrā Pretext
Dvaita-vana
स््रष्टारमपि लोकानां युधि विक्रम्य नाशयेत् । न बालमुत्सहे हन्तुमिति शक्र: प्रभाषते,तब इन्द्रने व्यथित होकर उन देवताओंसे कहा--“देवताओ! यह बालक बड़ा बलवान् है। यह लोकस्रष्टा ब्रह्माको भी युद्धमें पराक्रम करके मार सकता है। अतः मुझमें इस बालकको मारनेका साहस नहीं है।” इन्द्र बार-बार यही बात दुहराने लगे
sraṣṭāram api lokānāṁ yudhi vikramya nāśayet | na bālam utsahe hantum iti śakraḥ prabhāṣate ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “He could, by sheer prowess in battle, even destroy Brahmā, the creator of the worlds. Therefore I do not have the heart to kill this child,” thus spoke Śakra (Indra). Distressed, Indra kept repeating this to the gods—acknowledging the child’s extraordinary power and drawing an ethical line against slaying one who is but a child.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one possesses the power to destroy, dharma may require restraint—especially regarding the killing of a child or the vulnerable. Indra’s hesitation frames ethical limits within warfare and divine action.
Mārkaṇḍeya reports Indra’s reaction: Indra, shaken by the child’s immense might (so great it could threaten even Brahmā), tells the assembled gods that he cannot bring himself to kill the child and repeats this refusal.