Shloka 153
जज्वाल क्रोधादथ भीमसेन आज्यप्रसिक्तो हि यथा हुताश: । राजन! वहाँ चारों ओर जब प्रधान-प्रधान वीरोंका वह अत्यन्त घोर तुमुल युद्ध चल रहा था, उस समय अचिन्त्यपराक्रमी महाबाहु भीमसेन दुःशासनको देखकर पिछली बातें याद करने लगे--*देवी द्रौपदी रजस्वला थी। उसने कोई अपराध नहीं किया था। उसके पति भी उसकी सहायतासे मुँह मोड़ चुके थे तो भी इस दुःशासनने द्रौपदीके केश पकड़े और भरी सभामें उसके वस्त्रोंका अपहरण किया।” उसने और भी जो-जो दुःख दिये थे, उन सबको याद करके भीमसेन घीकी आहुतिसे प्रज्वलित हुई अग्निके समान क्रोधसे जल उठे
sañjaya uvāca |
jajvāla krodhād atha bhīmasena ājyaprasīkto hi yathā hutāśaḥ |
Sanjaya said: Then Bhimasena blazed with wrath—like a fire fed with ghee. In that tumultuous and terrifying battle, as the foremost heroes clashed on every side, the mighty-armed Bhima, of inconceivable prowess, caught sight of Duhshasana and began recalling the past: how Draupadi, though innocent and in her season, was seized by the hair in the full assembly and her garments were dragged away, even when her husbands had turned their faces from helping her. Remembering those humiliations and every other pain inflicted upon her, Bhima’s anger flared up like a sacrificial flame.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames righteous outrage as a moral response to grave adharma: public humiliation and violence against an innocent person create an ethical debt that demands accountability. Bhima’s anger is portrayed not as mere passion but as a fire kindled by remembered injustice, underscoring the Mahabharata’s concern with honor, protection of the vulnerable, and consequences of wrongdoing.
During the fierce fighting of the Karna Parva, Bhima sees Duhshasana on the battlefield. The sight triggers memories of Duhshasana’s earlier outrage in the Kuru assembly—seizing Draupadi by the hair and attempting to strip her—so Bhima’s fury surges, compared to a fire intensified by ghee.