Shloka 27

Devanagari script

एवं क्रुद्धो भीमसेन: करेण उत्पाटयामास भुजं महात्मा | दुःशासनं तेन स वीरमध्ये जघान वज्राशनिसंनिभेन,युद्धस्थलमें ऐसी बात कहते हुए राजकुमार दुःशासनकी छातीपर चढ़कर भीमसेनने उसे दोनों हाथोंसे बलपूर्वक पकड़ लिया और उच्च स्वरसे सिंहनाद करते हुए समस्त योद्धाओंसे कहा--“आज दुःशासनकी बाँह उखाड़ी जा रही है। यह अब अपने प्राणोंको त्यागना ही चाहता है। जिसमें बल हो, वह आकर इसे मेरे हाथसे बचा ले।” इस प्रकार समस्त योद्धाओंको ललकारकर महाबली, महामनस्वी, कुपित भीमसेनने एक ही हाथसे वेगपूर्वक दुःशासनकी बाँह उखाड़ ली। उसकी वह बाँह वज़्के समान कठोर थी। भीमसेन समस्त वीरोंके बीच उसीके द्वारा उसे पीटने लगे

Transliteration

evaṁ kruddho bhīmasenaḥ kareṇotpāṭayāmāsa bhujaṁ mahātmā | duḥśāsanaṁ tena sa vīramadhye jaghāna vajrāśanisaṁnibhena ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Enraged, the great-souled Bhīmasena tore out Duḥśāsana’s arm with his hand. Then, in the midst of the warriors, he struck Duḥśāsana with that arm, which was like a thunderbolt—an act of ferocious retribution in the brutal ethics of battlefield vengeance, where wrath and remembered humiliation erupt into bodily punishment.

Word by Word

एवम्thus

क्रुद्धःangry

भीमसेनःBhimasena

करेणwith (his) hand

उत्पाटयामासtore out / uprooted

भुजम्arm

महात्माthe great-souled one

दुःशासनम्Duhshasana

तेनwith that (arm/hand)

सःhe

वीरमध्येin the midst of heroes

जघानstruck / smote

वज्राशनिसंनिभेनwith (something) like a thunderbolt

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhīmasena (Bhīma)

Duḥśāsana

battlefield (vīramadhya)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the terrifying momentum of wrath in war: even a warrior praised as ‘mahātmā’ can commit extreme violence when driven by remembered injury and the logic of retribution. It invites reflection on the tension between kṣatriya-duty in battle and the ethical cost of vengeance.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes Bhīma, furious, ripping off Duḥśāsana’s arm with his hand and then striking Duḥśāsana with that severed arm in front of the assembled warriors, emphasizing Bhīma’s strength and the brutality of the combat.