Shloka 56
Chapter 59: Baladeva’s Censure, Keśava’s Restraint, and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Moral Accounting
शिरश्न राजसिंहस्य पादेन समलोडयत् | ऐसा कहकर भीमसेनने अपने बायें पैरसे उसके मुकुटको ठुकराया और उस राजसिंहके मस्तकपर भी पैरसे ठोकर मारा
śiraś ca rājasiṃhasya pādena samaloḍayat |
Sañjaya berkata: Bhīmasena, setelah berkata demikian, menendang jatuh mahkota itu dengan kaki kirinya, lalu menyepak kepala ‘singa di antara raja-raja’ tersebut. Perbuatan itu menandai kemuncak dendam yang kejam di medan perang, ketika amarah dan pembalasan menenggelamkan segala adab yang lazimnya diberikan kepada seorang pahlawan yang telah tumbang.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how vengeance and fury in war can lead to acts that violate the ideal kṣatriya ethic of restraint and respect toward a defeated foe, inviting reflection on the moral costs of hatred even amid ‘just’ warfare.
Sañjaya narrates that Bhīma, after speaking, uses his left foot to knock away the fallen warrior’s crown and then kicks his head—an emphatic gesture of contempt and triumph at a climactic moment of the conflict.