Mahabharata 23: He That Loves To Punish Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

In place or not, proper or not,
Rajas wrapped, passion on unleash,
And wrath and rage reaching red hot,
In varied ways one loves to punish.
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Here is the transliteration of the original verse:

asthāne yadi vā sthānesatatam rajasā āvŗtah |
kŗddhah daņđān praņayativividhān svena tejasā || vana 28-17 ||

Yudhishthir here counters the argument that he is far too ready to pardon and forgive. A man of ready rage is too ready to punish, which is even worse than one ever pardoning. Note: rajasā āvŗtah = wrapped in rajas, the mode1 of action and illusion; kŗddhah = one enraged; daņđān praņayati = loves a punishing rod/sceptre.

1. According to Indic philosophy, there are three modes of material nature of a man: sattvas (altruism, honesty and harmony) , rajas (passion, action, illusion) , and tamas (lethargy, inaction, delusion) .