Shloka 21
Indrajit’s Binding, Restoration by Viśalyā, and Counsel Restraining Rāvaṇa (Āraṇyaka Parva 273)
अदासो गच्छ मुक्तो5सि मैवं कार्षी: पुनः क्वचित् | स्त्रीकामं वा धिगस्तु त्वां क्षुद्र: क्षुद्रसहायवान्
adāso gaccha mukto 'si maivaṁ kārṣīḥ punaḥ kvacit | strīkāmaṁ vā dhig astu tvāṁ kṣudraḥ kṣudrasahāyavān ||
Bhīmasena said: “Go—no longer a slave; you are released. Do not ever act like this again. Whether driven by lust for a woman or otherwise—shame on you, petty man, who keeps petty company.”
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power should be tempered with restraint: even while condemning wrongdoing (especially lust-driven misconduct and ignoble association), Bhīma releases the offender and warns him not to repeat the act, combining moral censure with a measured act of mercy.
Bhīmasena addresses an offender he has subdued, declares him free (no longer to be treated as a slave), warns him never to commit such behavior again, and denounces him as base—particularly if his act arose from lust or from keeping base companions.