Shloka 31
राजन! इस प्रकार जब वह भयंकर संग्राम चल रहा था, उसी समय राजा दुर्योधनका छोटा भाई आपका पुत्र दुःशासन निर्भय हो बाणोंकी वर्षा करता हुआ भीमसेनपर चढ़ आया। उसे देखते ही भीमसेन भी बड़े उतावले होकर उसकी ओर दौड़े और जिस प्रकार सिंह महारुकु नामक मृगपर आक्रमण करता है, उसी प्रकार उसके पास जा पहुँचे ।। ततस्तयोर्युद्धमतीव दारुणं प्रदीव्यतो: प्राणदुरोदरं द्वयो: । परस्परेणाभिनिविष्टरोषयो- रुदग्रयो: शम्बरशक्रयोर्यथा
tatas tayor yuddham atīva dāruṇaṁ pradīvyatoḥ prāṇadurodaraṁ dvayoḥ | paraspareṇābhiniviṣṭaroṣayor udagrayoḥ śambaraśakrayor yathā ||
Sañjaya said: O king, while that dreadful battle raged, Duḥśāsana—Duryodhana’s younger brother, your son—fearlessly advanced upon Bhīmasena, pouring forth a rain of arrows. At the sight of him, Bhīmasena too rushed forward in hot haste, like a lion attacking the beast called Mahāruru. Then between those two, as they blazed in combat, there arose a battle exceedingly dreadful, with life itself at stake; wrath fixed upon each other, the two fierce warriors clashed like Śambara and Indra (Śakra) of old.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how mutual wrath, once fully entrenched, makes conflict a ‘wager of life’ (prāṇa-durodara). It cautions that anger escalates violence beyond strategy into existential risk, even for mighty warriors, and frames battlefield valor alongside the moral peril of rage-driven action.
Sanjaya describes Bhima and Duhshasana meeting in an extremely fierce duel. Their mutual anger is emphasized, and their clash is compared to the mythic confrontation between Indra (Śakra) and the asura Śambara, signaling a titanic, life-staking encounter.