Adhyāya 141 — Night duels: Śaineya and Bhūriśravas; Droṇi and Ghaṭotkaca; Bhīma and Duryodhana
मुनिर्भूत्वाथवा भीम फलान्यादत्स्व दुर्मते । वनाय व्रज कौन्तेय न त्वं युद्धविशारद:,“दुर्मति कुन्तीकुमार भीम! अथवा तू मुनि होकर वनमें चला जा। वहाँ इधर-उधरसे फल ले आ और खा। तू युद्धमें निपुण नहीं है
munir bhūtvā athavā bhīma phalāny ādat sva durmate | vanāya vraja kaunteya na tvaṃ yuddhaviśāradaḥ ||
قال سانجيا: «يا بهيما، يا ابنَ كونتي، يا سيّئَ الرأي! إن شئتَ فكن مُنِيًّا وامضِ إلى الغابة؛ هناك تلتقطُ الثمارَ من هنا وهناك وتأكلها. أمّا الحربُ فلستَ بمتقنٍ لها.»
संजय उवाच
The verse highlights how battlefield rhetoric uses ridicule to undermine an opponent’s kṣatriya identity: telling Bhīma to become a forest-ascetic implies abandoning warrior-dharma. Ethically, it shows the tension between true valor and the corrosive use of contempt as a weapon.
In the Drona Parva’s climactic fighting, a speaker (reported by Sañjaya) taunts Bhīma, mocking him as unfit for war and suggesting he should go to the forest to live like a sage, gathering fruits—an attempt to provoke and humiliate him in the midst of battle.