Shloka 23
Draupadī-apaharaṇa-saṃdeśaḥ
Report of Draupadī’s Abduction and the Pāṇḍavas’ Pursuit
तस्मादस्माभिरप्यत्र दैत्या:शतसहस््रशः । नियुक्ता राक्षसाश्वैव ये ते संशप्तका इति
tasmād asmābhir apy atra daityāḥ śata-sahasraśaḥ | niyuktā rākṣasāś caiva ye te saṁśaptakā iti ||
وَیشَمپایَن نے کہا—اسی لیے ہم نے بھی یہاں اسی کام کے لیے دَیتّیوں کو لاکھوں کی تعداد میں اور راکشسوں کو مقرر کر رکھا ہے؛ وہ ‘سَمشَپتَک’ کے نام سے مشہور ہیں۔ وہ اس بہادر ارجن کو قتل کر دیں گے؛ پس غم نہ کرو۔ اے نریشور، تمہیں اس زمین کی بےخار و بےخطر بادشاہی بھوگنی مقدر ہے۔
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights a political-ethical motif: rulers and their agents often seek to remove obstacles to sovereignty through force and intimidation, yet such assurances rest on uncertain outcomes. It implicitly contrasts human confidence in strategy (deploying Saṁśaptakas) with the unpredictability of destiny and the moral weight of plotting a hero’s death.
The narrator reports that a party has already deployed vast numbers of Daityas and Rakṣasas—collectively called the Saṁśaptakas—tasked with killing Arjuna. The speaker uses this as reassurance to a king, urging him not to grieve and promising him a ‘thornless’ (unopposed) rule over the earth.