संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
सः लब्ध्वा दुर्लभां भार्यां पद्म-किञ्जल्क-सप्रभाम्saḥ labdhvā durlabhāṃ bhāryāṃ padma-kiñjalka-saprabhāmhaving regained his hard-won wife, radiant like the filaments of a lotus
व्रतं चक्रे जिह्मगानां विनाशायvrataṃ cakre jihmagānāṃ vināśāyamade a vow to destroy the serpents (creeping ones)
जिह्मगान् दृष्ट्वा तीव्र-कोप-समन्वितःjihmagān dṛṣṭvā tīvra-kopa-samanvitaḥseeing serpents, seized by fierce anger
अभिहन्ति यथा-आसन्नं गृह्य प्रहरणम्abhihanti yathā-āsannaṃ gṛhya praharaṇamhe would kill [any] nearest one, seizing a weapon
कदा चित् वनं महत् अभ्यागमत्kadā cit vanaṃ mahat abhyāgamatonce he came into a great forest
शयानं डुण्डुभं वयसा-अन्वितम् अपश्यत्śayānaṃ ḍuṇḍubhaṃ vayasā-anvitam apaśyatsaw an old dundubha (a harmless snake) lying [there]
दण्डं काल-दण्ड-उपमं उद्यम्यdaṇḍaṃ kāla-daṇḍa-upamaṃ udyamyaraising a staff, like the very rod of death
अभ्यघ्नत् रुषितःabhyaghnat ruṣitaḥstruck [it] in fury
न अपराध्यामि ते किं चित् अहम् तपोधनna aparādhyāmi te kiṃ cit aham tapodhana"I have done you no wrong at all, O rich in austerity"
किमर्थं माम् अभिहंसि रुषा-अन्वितःkimarthaṃ mām abhihaṃsi ruṣā-anvitaḥwhy do you strike me, seized with fury?
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Here a flaw creeping even into a noble heart is laid bare: anger directed without discernment. Having lost his beloved to a serpent, Ruru vowed vengeance against the entire race of snakes -- but vengeance that does not distinguish the guilty from the innocent becomes adharma itself. He raises his staff over a harmless dundubha, which has done him no wrong, and it rightly asks: "Why do you strike me?" This is the same question voiced at the very start of the Adi-parva by the innocent dog of Sarama. Scripture thus returns again and again to the lesson of ahimsa: the innocent must not be punished, and indiscriminate anger, even when born of grief, is itself a sin. The kala-danda (rod of death) in Ruru's hand is an image of a man in rage assuming for himself the role of fate, a role no mortal is given. A devotee must be free from malice toward all beings (advesta sarva-bhutanam, as the Gita says) -- for the Lord dwells within every being. The protest of the innocent snake will become, as the story goes on to show, the start of Ruru's awakening, and indiscriminate vengeance will give way to compassion and wisdom.