Shloka 17
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 47 — Arjuna’s Deterrent Declaration
Sañjaya’s Report
सेनाग्रगं दंशितं भीमसेनं स्वालक्षणं वीरहणं परेषाम् | घ्नन्तं चमूमन्तकसंनिकाशं तदा स्मर्ता वचनस्थातिमानी
saṅjaya uvāca | senāgra-gaṁ daṁśitaṁ bhīmasenaṁ svalakṣaṇaṁ vīrahaṇaṁ pareṣām | ghnantaṁ camūm antaka-sannikāśaṁ tadā smartā vacanasthātimānī ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Wenn Bhīmasena, in Rüstung gehüllt, mit jähem Ansturm an die Spitze des Heeres stürmt—durch seine eigenen Kennzeichen ausgezeichnet und doch den Feinden schwer erkennbar—und die Helden der Gegenseite erschlägt; und wenn er, gleich Antaka (dem Tod) selbst, beginnt, das feindliche Heer zu vernichten, dann wird Duryodhana, über alle Maßen stolz, meiner Worte gedenken.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Arrogance that ignores wise counsel leads to inevitable regret: Duryodhana’s overconfidence will collapse when confronted with the real, destructive capability of Bhīma in battle, and he will then recall the warning he dismissed.
Sañjaya foretells a battlefield scene: Bhīma, armored and charging at the front, will slaughter enemy champions and devastate the opposing army like Death itself; at that moment, Duryodhana—described as extremely proud—will remember Sañjaya’s earlier words.