Shloka 118

Kirmīra-rākṣasa-saṃgamaḥ (Encounter and Slaying of Kirmīra) | किर्मीरेण सह भीमसेनसमागमः

Devanagari script

त इमे सिंहविक्रान्ता वीर्येणा भ्यधिका: परै: । विहीनै: परिक्लिश्यन्तीं समुपैक्षन्त मां कथम्‌,ये सिंहके समान पराक्रमी पाण्डव बल-वीर्यमें शत्रुओंसे बढ़े-चढ़े हैं, इनसे सर्वथा हीन कौरव मुझे भरी सभामें कष्ट दे रहे थे, तो भी इन्होंने क्‍यों मेरी उपेक्षा की?

Transliteration

te ime siṁha-vikrāntā vīryeṇābhyadhikāḥ paraiḥ | vihīnaiḥ parikliśyantīṁ samupai kṣanta māṁ katham ||

Translation

他們怎能對我置若罔聞？那些般度子弟如獅般勇猛，在力量與武德上勝過仇敵；然而當我在滿座大會中被俱盧族——遠不及他們之輩——折辱折磨時，他們竟仍冷眼旁觀。

Word by Word

तेthey (those)

इमेthese

सिंह-विक्रान्ताःlion-striding, lion-like in prowess

वीर्येणby/with valor, strength

अभ्यधिकाःsuperior, exceeding

परैःthan others (than the enemies)

विहीनैःby those who are deficient/inferior

परिक्लिश्यन्तीम्being tormented, suffering

समुपैक्षन्तthey looked on, they neglected/overlooked

माम्me

कथम्how? why?

Speaker

राक्षस उवाच

Characters & Entities

Pāṇḍavas

Kauravas

sabhā (royal assembly)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical failure of powerful protectors who remain passive while injustice is done. Strength and superiority carry responsibility; indifference to wrongdoing becomes a moral lapse, especially when the victim is being publicly humiliated or harmed.

What is happening in the narrative?

A rākṣasa speaker questions why the mighty Pāṇḍavas—renowned for lion-like valor—did not intervene when the Kauravas, portrayed as inferior, were causing suffering in the royal assembly. The line frames their non-intervention as puzzling and blameworthy.