Shloka 25
धर्मरहस्योपदेशः
Dharma-rahasya Instruction: Vows, Truth, and Non-injury
अर्जुन समरे हन्यां मां वा हन्याद् धनंजय: । स मे कदाचिदद्यैव भवेद् भीमसमागमात्
arjunaṃ samare hanyāṃ māṃ vā hanyād dhanañjayaḥ | sa me kadācid adyaiva bhaved bhīmasamāgamāt ||
Sañjaya said: “May I slay Arjuna in battle, or may Dhanañjaya slay me. Perhaps, through an encounter with Bhīmasena, that long-cherished wish of mine may be fulfilled even today.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior ethos where a decisive confrontation is embraced: either victory or death is accepted as the outcome. Ethically, it reflects the grim clarity of kṣatriya warfare—personal longing and rivalry are framed within the inevitability of battle and its consequences.
Sañjaya reports a speaker’s intense, long-held desire for a final resolution with Arjuna—either to kill him or be killed by him—and suggests that an imminent encounter involving Bhīmasena may bring that wish to fulfillment that very day.