Shloka 24
मārkaṇḍeya-ukta yuddha-vyūha-pratyavyūhaḥ
Battle Formations and Countermeasures in the Rāmopākhyāna
जग्राह तामुत्तरवस्त्रदेशे जयद्रथस्तं समवाक्षिपत् सा | तया समाक्षिप्ततनु: स पाप: पपात शाखीव निकृत्तमूल:
jagrāha tām uttaravastradeśe jayadrathas taṃ samavākṣipat sā | tayā samākṣiptatanuḥ sa pāpaḥ papāta śākhīva nikṛttamūlaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Jayadratha seized her by the upper edge of her garment; she, in turn, struck him down. With his body thus knocked aside, that sinful man fell like a tree whose roots have been cut—an image underscoring the moral disgrace and inevitable downfall that follow coercion and adharma.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames coercive, dishonorable conduct as pāpa (sinful) and portrays its consequence as sudden collapse—like a tree cut at the root—highlighting that adharma brings swift moral and practical downfall.
Jayadratha grabs the woman by the upper edge of her garment; she retaliates by striking him down, and he falls heavily, compared to a tree felled by severed roots.