Shloka 37
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 125: Duryodhana’s despair and vow after Jayadratha’s fall (जयद्रथवधे दुर्योधनविलापः)
भरतनन्दन! भीमसेनने सभामें सबके सामने ही युद्धस्थलमें आपके पुत्रोंका वध करनेकी प्रतिज्ञा की थी ।। ततो दुःशासनं जित्वा सात्यकि: संयुगे प्रभो । जगाम त्वरितो राजन् येन यातो धनंजय:,राजन! प्रभो! इस प्रकार समरांगणमें दुःशासनपर विजय पाकर सात्यकि तत्काल ही उसी मार्गपर चल दिये, जिससे अर्जुन गये थे
bharatanandana! bhīmasenena sabhāyāṃ sarveṣāṃ samakṣaṃ yuddhasthale tava putrāṇāṃ vadhaṃ prati pratijñā kṛtā ǁ tato duḥśāsanaṃ jitvā sātyakiḥ saṃyuge prabho jagāma tvarito rājan yena yāto dhanaṃjayaḥ ǁ
Sañjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, Bhīmasena had vowed openly in the assembly, before all, that he would slay your sons on the battlefield. Thereafter, having overcome Duhshasana in the fight, Satyaki—O lord—hurried on, O king, along the very route by which Dhananjaya (Arjuna) had gone.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
A vow made publicly—especially in a royal assembly—creates a binding moral pressure that shapes later conduct. In the epic’s ethical frame, warriors act not only from strategy but also from pledged word (pratijñā), which becomes a driver of dharma as they understand it.
Sanjaya reminds Dhritarashtra of Bhima’s earlier public vow to kill the Kaurava brothers. In the immediate battle scene, Satyaki defeats Duhshasana and then quickly proceeds along the same path Arjuna has taken, indicating coordinated movement and urgency on the battlefield.