यदाचरत्क्ष्मामविषह्यमाजौ ।
तदा निलिल्युर्दिशि दिश्यसन्तो
लाङ्गूलमुद्यम्य यथा मृगेन्द्रः ॥२३॥
visphÅ«rjayann Äja-gavaá¹ dhanuḥ svayaá¹
yadÄcarat ká¹£mÄm aviá¹£ahyam Äjau
tadÄ nililyur diÅ›i diÅ›y asanto
lÄá¹…gÅ«lam udyamya yathÄ má¹›gendraḥ
visphÅ«rjayan - vibrating; Äja-gavam - made of the horns of goats and bulls; dhanuḥ - his bow; svayam - personally; yadÄ - when; acarat - will travel; ká¹£mÄm - on the earth; aviá¹£ahyam - irresistible; Äjau - in battle; tadÄ - at that time; nililyuḥ - will hide themselves; diÅ›i diÅ›i - in all directions; asantaḥ - demoniac men; lÄá¹…gÅ«lam - tail; udyamya - keeping high; yathÄ - as; má¹›gendraḥ - the lion.
When the lion travels in the forest with its tail turned upward, all menial animals hide themselves. Similarly, when King Pá¹›thu will travel over his kingdom and vibrate the string of his bow, which is made of the horns of goats and bulls and is irresistible in battle, all demoniac rogues and thieves will hide themselves in all directions.
It is very appropriate to compare a powerful king like Pṛthu to a lion. In India, kṣatriya kings are still called siṅgh, which means “lion.†Unless rogues, thieves and other demoniac people in a state are afraid of the executive head, who rules the kingdom with a strong hand, there cannot be peace or prosperity in the state. Thus it is most regrettable when a woman becomes the executive head instead of a lionlike king. In such a situation the people are considered very unfortunate.
