Shloka 77

Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 22 — Draupadī’s Abduction Attempt and Bhīma’s Suppression of the Kīcakas

Devanagari script

फिर द्रौपदीका क्रोध शान्त करनेके लिये उन्होंने दोनों हाथोंसे उसका गला पकड़कर बड़े वेगसे दबाया ।। अथ तं भग्नसर्वड़िं व्याविद्धनयनाम्बरम्‌ । आक्रम्य च कटीदेशे जानुना कीचकाधमम्‌ । अपीडयत बाहुभ्यां पशुमारममारयत्‌,इस प्रकार जब उसके सब अंग भग्न हो गये, आँखकी पुतलियाँ बाहर निकल आयीं और वस्त्र फट गये, तब उन्होंने उस कीचकाधमकी कमरको अपने घुटनोंसे दबाकर दोनों भुजाओंद्वारा उसका गला घोंट दिया और उसे पशुकी तरह मारने लगे

Transliteration

atha taṁ bhagnasarvāṅgaṁ vyāviddhanayanāmbaram | ākramya ca kaṭīdeśe jānunā kīcakādhamam | apīḍayat bāhubhyāṁ paśum āramam ārayat ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: Khi thân thể Kīcaka đã bị nghiền nát, mắt hắn đảo lộn và y phục rách tươm trong cuộc giằng co, Bhīma chộp lấy tên Kīcaka đê tiện ấy, dùng đầu gối ghì chặt ngang hông, rồi bằng cả hai tay bóp nát cổ họng hắn. Thế là hắn bị đánh gục như một con thú—để chấm dứt nỗi nhục của Draupadī và giữ trọn lời thề che giấu của các Pāṇḍava.

Word by Word

• {'atha': 'then, thereafter', 'tam': 'him (accusative singular)', 'bhagna': 'broken, shattered', 'sarvāṅga': 'all limbs

• the whole body', 'vyāviddha': 'turned aside, distorted, rolled about (of eyes)', 'nayana': 'eye', 'ambara': 'garment, clothing', 'ākramya': 'having stepped upon/overpowered

• having attacked', 'kaṭīdeśe': 'in the region of the waist/hips', 'jānunā': 'with the knee', 'kīcaka': 'Kīcaka (commander of Virāṭa’s forces

• aggressor toward Draupadī)', 'adhama': 'lowest, vile, contemptible', 'apīḍayat': 'he pressed, crushed, throttled', 'bāhubhyām': 'with (both) arms', 'paśu': 'animal, beast', 'ārayat': 'he struck down/finished off

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Kīcaka
• Draupadī
• Bhīma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage highlights the dharmic duty to protect the oppressed and to stop ongoing adharma (Kīcaka’s predation). It also raises an ethical tension: force is portrayed as justified when used to end grave wrongdoing and safeguard honor, yet it remains a severe remedy tied to responsibility and context.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Kīcaka assaults and threatens Draupadī during the Pandavas’ incognito stay in Virāṭa’s court, Bhīma confronts him and kills him in close combat—pinning him with a knee and crushing his throat—thereby ending Kīcaka’s tyranny and protecting Draupadī.