Bhīṣma’s Admonition; Duryodhana’s Rājasūya Aspiration and the Proposal of a Vaiṣṇava-satra
स ताउछरैविनिर्भिद्य गजांश्व सुबहून् वने । रमणीयेषु देशेषु ग्राहयामास वै मृगान्,उन्होंने वनके रमणीय प्रदेशोंमें बहुत-से हाथियोंको अपने बाणोंसे विदीर्ण करके अनेकानेक हिंस्र पशुओंको पकड़ लिया
sa tān ucchair vinirbhidya gajān aśvān subahūn vane | ramaṇīyeṣu deśeṣu grāhayāmāsa vai mṛgān |
स तान् ऊर्ध्वैर्विनिर्भिद्य शरैः बहून् गजान् अश्वांश्च वने । रमणीयेषु देशेषु ग्राहयामास वै मृगान् ॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
The verse highlights how martial skill and royal authority can extend into the forest through hunting and capture, inviting reflection on dharma: power may achieve control, but ethical restraint and the purpose behind violence remain crucial concerns in the epic’s moral landscape.
The narrator describes a figure who, in forest regions, pierces many elephants and horses with arrows and has wild animals captured—depicting an intense scene of hunting/forcible seizure within pleasant woodland settings.