mahÄn ayaá¹ batÄdharma
eá¹£Äá¹ rÄja-sabhÄ-sadÄm
ye balÄbalavad yuddhaá¹
rÄjño 'nvicchanti paÅ›yataḥ
mahÄn - great; ayam - this; bata - alas; adharmaḥ - act of irreligion; eá¹£Äm - on the part of these; rÄja-sabhÄ - in the King's assembly; sadÄm - persons present; ye - who; bala-abala-vat - between strong and weak; yuddham - a fight; rÄjñaḥ - while the King; anvicchanti - they also desire; paÅ›yataḥ - is watching.
[The women said:] Alas, what a greatly irreligious act the members of this royal assembly are committing! As the King watches this fight between the strong and the weak, they also want to see it.
The idea the ladies are expressing is that even if the King somehow wanted to see such an unfair match, why should the respectable members of the assembly also desire to see it? These feelings are natural. Even nowadays, if in a public place we find a violent fight going on between a very strong, large person and a weaker, smaller person, we are aroused to indignation. Compassionate women are especially offended and enraged by such unfair violence.
