Shloka 19
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ५९
Arjuna Breaks the Encirclement; Bhīma Reinforces
न जीवति महाराजो मन्ये पार्थ युधिष्ठिर: । यद् भीमसेन: सहते सिंहनादममर्षण:
na jīvati mahārājo manye pārtha yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | yad bhīmasenaḥ sahate siṃhanādam amarṣaṇaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “O Pārtha, I think the great king Yudhiṣṭhira is not alive. For Bhīmasena—fierce and intolerant of insult—would never quietly endure the lion-like roar of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons if Yudhiṣṭhira were still living.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a warrior’s conduct is read as a moral and strategic sign: Bhīma’s known intolerance of humiliation implies that if he is quietly enduring the enemy’s triumphant roar, then the dharmic center of the Pāṇḍavas—Yudhiṣṭhira—may have fallen. It shows how leadership and dharma shape the morale and behavior of even the fiercest allies.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra and reasons aloud: he suspects Yudhiṣṭhira has been slain, because Bhīma—normally unable to tolerate the Kauravas’ boastful ‘lion-roar’—is not immediately countering it. The enemy’s roaring is treated as a battlefield signal, and Bhīma’s restraint becomes an ominous indicator.