Shloka 16
कामीकवन-समागमः
Kāmyaka Forest Meeting: Kṛṣṇa’s Visit; Mārkaṇḍeya and Nārada Arrive
नहि मे मुच्यते कश्चित् कथंचित् प्रग्रहं गतः गजो वा महिषो वापि षछ्ले काले नरोत्तम,“नरश्रेष्ठ। दिनके छठे भागमें कोई भैंसा अथवा हाथी ही क्यों न हो, मेरी पकड़में आ जानेपर किसी तरह छूट नहीं सकता
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: nahi me mucyate kaścit kathaṃcit pragrahaṃ gataḥ; gajo vā mahiṣo vāpi ṣaṣṭhe kāle narottama.
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「ひとたび我が掌中に落ちた者は、いかなる手立てをもってしても逃れ得ぬ――象であろうと水牛であろうと、ああ人の中の最上者よ――とりわけ日中の六分の一の刻が来ればなおさらだ。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights unwavering determination and the claim of irresistible control once someone is seized. Ethically, it invites reflection on whether strength is being used as rightful restraint or as coercive domination—an important tension in the Mahābhārata’s treatment of dharma.
Vaiśampāyana, narrating the events, reports a speaker’s emphatic declaration: once a being—however strong, like an elephant or buffalo—falls into his grasp, escape is impossible, particularly at a specified time marker (“the sixth part of the day”), which functions as a dramatic emphasis within the episode.