Shloka 31
धर्मरहस्योपदेशः
Dharma-rahasya Instruction: Vows, Truth, and Non-injury
हन्ताहमर्जुनं संख्ये मां वा हन्याद् धनंजय: । युद्धे मन: समाधाय याहि यत्र वृकोदर:
hantāham arjunaṃ saṅkhye māṃ vā hanyād dhanañjayaḥ | yuddhe manaḥ samādhāya yāhi yatra vṛkodaraḥ ||
Sanjaya said: “Either I shall strike down Arjuna in the thick of battle, or Dhananjaya will strike me down. With your mind firmly set on the fight and fixed on this resolve, go—drive to where Vrikodara (Bhima) is.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior ethic of steadfast resolve: one enters battle accepting the twofold possibility—victory or death—while keeping the mind concentrated on the chosen duty. It underscores agency (firm intention) within uncertainty (the opponent may prevail), a recurring Mahābhārata tension between resolve and fate.
In the Karṇa Parva battle sequence, the speaker reports a combatant’s determination regarding Arjuna—either to kill him or be killed by him—and urges the charioteer/ally to drive toward the location of Vṛkodara (Bhīma), indicating a tactical movement toward a key front where Bhīma is engaged.