Shloka 2736
Adhyāya 33: Rauhiṇeya (Balarāma) is welcomed and takes his seat to witness the gadā-engagement
त्वमस्य सक्थिनी भड्वक्त्वा प्रतिज्ञां पालयिष्यसि । “अवश्य ही रणभूमिमें तुमसे टक्कर लेकर पापी दुर्योधन नष्ट हो जायगा और तुम उसकी दोनों जाँघें तोड़कर अपनी प्रतिज्ञाका पालन करोगे
tvam asya sakthinī bhaḍvakṛtvā pratijñāṁ pālayiṣyasi | avaśya hi raṇabhūmau tvayā saha ṭakkaraṁ gṛhītvā pāpī duryodhanaḥ naṣṭo bhaviṣyati, tvaṁ ca tasya ubhe jaṅghe bhaṅktvā sva-pratijñāṁ pālayiṣyasi ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Gewiss wirst du dein Gelübde erfüllen, indem du ihm die Schenkel zerbrichst. Denn auf dem Schlachtfeld wird der sündige Duryodhana, sobald er sich mit dir misst, unfehlbar zugrunde gehen; und du wirst, indem du beide seine Schenkel zerschmetterst, dein feierliches Versprechen halten.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the binding force of a pratijñā (vow) in epic ethics: a warrior’s pledged word is treated as morally weighty and must be carried through, even amid the harsh necessities of war. It also frames Duryodhana’s downfall as the inevitable consequence of adharma, with retribution arriving through the fulfillment of a vowed act.
Sañjaya foretells (or reports with certainty) that Duryodhana will be destroyed when he confronts his opponent on the battlefield, and that the opponent will fulfill a prior vow specifically by breaking Duryodhana’s two thighs—an allusion to the climactic mace-fight outcome in the Kurukṣetra war.