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 |
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: O Hari! Ganyan nga nagsalita ang mga tao sa iba’t ibang lupain tungkol kay Kīcaka—ang bayaning mahirap salakayin, ang pumuksa sa mga hukbo ng kaaway. Sa lahat ng dako, sa mga tao at sa mga mangangabayo, inuulit-ulit ang kanyang pangalan sa gayong mga salita, O Haring Janamejaya.
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.