Shloka 49
मैत्रेयागमनम् — The Arrival of Maitreya and the Admonition to Duryodhana
मुज्जवज्जर्जरीभूता बहवस्तत्र पादपा:,वहाँ उस महान् वनमें बहुत-से वृक्ष मूँजकी भाँति जर्जर हो गये थे। वे फटे चीथड़ोंकी तरह इधर-उधर फैले हुए सुशोभित होते थे। भरतश्रेष्ठ! राक्षसराज किर्मीर और मनुष्योंमें श्रेष्ठ भीमसेनका वह वृक्षयुद्ध दो घड़ीतक चलता रहा
muñjavad jarjarībhūtā bahavas tatra pādapāḥ | tatra mahati vane bahavaḥ vṛkṣā muñjavad jarjarībhūtāḥ | te phaṭa-cīravad itas-tataḥ prasṛtāḥ śobhamānā babhūvuḥ | bharataśreṣṭha! rākṣasarājaḥ kirmīraḥ manuṣyeṣu śreṣṭho bhīmasenaś ca tayor vṛkṣayuddhaṃ dve ghaṭike yāvat pravavṛte |
Vidura kể rằng: trong khu rừng mênh mông ấy, nhiều cây cối bị đập dập tơi tả, xơ xác như cỏ muñja. Chúng bị chẻ toạc và văng vãi khắp nơi như những mảnh giẻ rách; cảnh tượng bạo liệt mà vẫn rực lên một vẻ sống động lạ thường. Hỡi bậc nhất dòng Bharata, cuộc giao chiến bằng cây giữa rākṣasa-vương Kirmīra và Bhīmasena, người trội nhất trong loài người, kéo dài suốt hai ghaṭikā.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights that sheer power can devastate the natural world, but the ethical lens of the epic invites the reader to judge strength by restraint and purpose. In dharmic terms, force is not praised merely for its intensity; it is weighed by whether it protects the righteous and is exercised with self-control.
Vidura narrates a fierce duel in the forest: the rākṣasa-king Kirmīra and Bhīmasena fight by uprooting and wielding trees. The violence is so intense that many trees become frayed and shattered like muñja-grass and lie scattered, and the tree-combat continues for about two ghaṭikās.