Shloka 33
भीष्मस्य सेनापत्यप्रतिज्ञा तथा रथसंख्यावर्णनम् | Bhishma Accepts Command and Enumerates Kaurava Strength
दुःशासनस्य रुधिरं हत्वा पास्याम्यहं मृथे,“मैं युद्धमें दःशासनको मारकर उसका रक्त पीऊँगा और तेरे सारे भाइयोंको मारकर तेरी जाँघें भी तोड़कर ही रहूँगा। सुयोधन! मैं धृतराष्ट्रके सभी पुत्रोंकी मृत्यु हूँ
sañjaya uvāca — duḥśāsanasya rudhiraṃ hatvā pāsyāmy ahaṃ mṛdhe | “yuddhe duḥśāsanaṃ hatvā tasya rudhiraṃ pāsyāmi, tava sarvān bhrātṝṃś ca hatvā tava ūrūn api bhaṅkṣyāmi eva; suyodhana! ahaṃ dhṛtarāṣṭrasya sarveṣāṃ putrāṇāṃ mṛtyuḥ” ||
Sanjaya said: “In the battle I shall slay Duhshasana and drink his blood. And after killing all your brothers, I will surely break your thighs as well. O Suyodhana, I am the death of all Dhritarashtra’s sons.” The utterance is a fierce vow of retribution, expressing how the moral outrage of humiliation and injustice hardens into a terrible resolve within the ethics of war, where personal vengeance and the demand for accountability collide.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how adharma and public humiliation can generate vows of extreme retaliation, illustrating the Mahabharata’s ethical tension: justice and accountability are sought, yet the means can become morally corrosive, intensifying the cycle of violence.
Sanjaya reports a warrior’s fierce declaration in the lead-up to war: he vows to kill Duhshasana and drink his blood, to kill Duryodhana’s brothers, and to break Duryodhana’s thighs—threatening the destruction of Dhritarashtra’s sons in the coming conflict.