Shloka 17
प्रच्छन्न॑ चापि धर्मज्ञ हरिणारिविनिग्रहे । वज्ज प्रविश्य शक्रस्य यत् कृतं तच्च ते श्रुतम्,“धर्मज्ञ! भगवान् श्रीहरिने शत्रुओंके विनाशके लिये छिपे तौरपर इन्द्रके वज्॒में प्रवेश करके जो कार्य किया, वह भी तुम्हारे कानोंमें पड़ा होगा
pracchannaṃ cāpi dharmajña hariṇārivinigrāhe | vajraṃ praviśya śakrasya yat kṛtaṃ tac ca te śrutam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O knower of dharma, you have also heard of that deed done for the destruction of Hari’s enemies—how, in a concealed manner, he entered Indra’s thunderbolt and accomplished his purpose.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that dharma may be upheld not only through open force but also through strategic, concealed action when the aim is the protection of the world and the restraint of hostile, unrighteous powers—especially when guided by divine wisdom.
Vaiśampāyana reminds the listener of a well-known divine episode: Hari, acting covertly, enters Indra’s vajra and thereby accomplishes the destruction or subjugation of enemies—an allusion to divine strategy in mythic conflict.