Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 27
Kṛṣṇasya Dvārakā-praveśaḥ — Krishna’s Return to Dvārakā and the Raivataka Festival
पपात वृक्षात् सोद्वेगो दुः:खात् परमकोपन: । स दण्डकाष्ठमादाय वल्मीकमखनत् तदा
vaiśampāyana uvāca | papāta vṛkṣāt sodvego duḥkhāt paramakopanaḥ | sa daṇḍakāṣṭham ādāya valmīkam akhanat tadā ||
Wika ni Vaiśaṃpāyana: Sa dalamhati at pagkabalisa dahil sa pighati, at nag-aalab sa sukdulang galit, tumalon siya mula sa puno. Hawak ang pamalong kahoy, sinimulan niyang hukayin ang punso. Ipinakikita ng tagpong ito na ang paglabag na inakala—ang pagnanakaw ng mga hikaw—ay nakapagpapaliyab ng matuwid na poot, ngunit ibinubunyag din ang panganib kapag ang galit ang nagtutulak sa bigla at marahas na pagkilos.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how grief and anger can rapidly propel one into impulsive action. In a dharmic frame, righteous concern for justice must be balanced with self-control, because uncontrolled wrath can distort judgment even when the cause appears legitimate.
The speaker describes a man (contextually, Uttanka) who, upon becoming agitated and furious, jumps down from a tree and takes up a wooden staff to dig into an anthill—an urgent physical response to what he has just witnessed (the theft of the earrings by a serpent, per the surrounding episode).