Shloka 19
Baka Dālbhya at Avakīrṇa-tīrtha: Rāṣṭra-kṣaya and Release through Prasāda (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 40)
तस्य ते सैनिका राजंश्चक्रुस्तत्रानयात् बहून् । ततस्तु भगवान् विप्रो वसिष्ठो55श्रममभ्ययात्,राजन! उनके उन सैनिकोंने वहाँ बहुत-से अन्याय एवं अत्याचार किये। तदनन्तर पूज्य ब्रह्मर्षि वसिष्ठ कहींसे अपने आश्रमपर आये
tasya te sainikā rājan cakrus tatrānayāt bahūn | tatas tu bhagavān vipro vasiṣṭho ’śramam abhyayāt ||
Wahai Raja, para askarnya telah melakukan banyak perbuatan zalim dan penindasan di sana. Kemudian brahmarṣi yang mulia, Vasiṣṭha—resī suci itu—tiba di pertapaannya, seakan-akan membuka tirai perhitungan dharma setelah kejahatan dilakukan.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical collapse that occurs when armed power acts without restraint—‘anaya’ (injustice) leading to oppression—and contrasts it with the arrival of a revered sage, implying that dharma and moral authority ultimately confront wrongdoing.
The narrator states that certain soldiers committed many injustices at a location. Immediately afterward, the sage Vasiṣṭha arrives at his hermitage, signaling a turning point where the consequences of those misdeeds may be addressed.