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 ||
भीमसेन म्हणाला—“जा; आता तू दास नाहीस, तुला मुक्त केले आहे. पुन्हा कधी असे करू नकोस. स्त्रीकामनेने असो वा अन्य कारणाने—धिक्कार असो तुला, हे क्षुद्र! क्षुद्र संगती धरून राहणाऱ्या।”
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.