Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 4
Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 25: Kaurava Deliberation and the Search Directive (अन्वेषण-आदेशः)
इत्यजल्पन् महाराज परानीकविनाशनम् | देशे देशे मनुष्याश्व कीचकं दुष्प्रधर्षणम्,महाराज जनमेजय! शत्रुओंकी सेनाका संहार करनेवाले उस दुर्धर्ष वीर कीचकके विषयमें देश-देशके लोग ऐसी ही बातें किया करते थे
iti ajalpan mahārāja parānīka-vināśanam | deśe deśe manuṣyāśva kīcakaṁ duṣpradharṣaṇam || mahārāja janamejaya |
ไวศัมปายนะกล่าวว่า—ข้าแต่มหาราช! ผู้คนในแคว้นต่าง ๆ พากันกล่าวถึงกีจกะ ผู้ยากจะต้านทาน ผู้ทำลายกองทัพศัตรู ในถ้อยคำเช่นนี้แล.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how public speech and reputation amplify martial power: a warrior’s perceived invincibility spreads across regions, shaping social and political attitudes. It implicitly warns that fame based on force can become a dominant narrative, regardless of deeper ethical merit.
Vaiśampāyana reports to King Janamejaya that people everywhere were talking about Kīcaka as a formidable, hard-to-defeat warrior and a destroyer of enemy armies—setting the scene for Kīcaka’s prominence in the Virāṭa court context.