Shloka 22
Bhīma–Duryodhana Gadāyuddha Saṃkalpa
Resolve for the Mace Duel
मित्राणां सुह्ृदां चैव बान्धवानां तथैव च । आनृण्यमद्य गच्छामि हत्वा त्वां भ्रातृभि: सह
mitrāṇāṃ suhṛdāṃ caiva bāndhavānāṃ tathaiva ca | ānṛṇyam adya gacchāmi hatvā tvāṃ bhrātṛbhiḥ saha ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Heute werde ich frei sein von meiner Schuld gegenüber Freunden, Wohlgesinnten und Verwandten—indem ich dich zusammen mit deinen Brüdern erschlage.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse expresses a warrior’s idea of discharging obligations (ṛṇa) to one’s supporters by decisive action in battle. Ethically, it highlights how loyalty and perceived duty can be framed as ‘debt,’ even when the means is violent retribution—revealing the tension between obligation and righteousness in the war narrative.
In the midst of the Kurukṣetra conflict, a combatant declares that by killing the addressed opponent along with his brothers, he will repay what he owes to his own friends, well-wishers, and relatives—suggesting a vow of vengeance or fulfillment of pledged support within the war.