Shloka 6
विद्धो5स्मि वीराशु भृशं त्वयाद्य सहस्व भूयो5पि गदाप्रहारम् । उक्त्वैवमुच्चै: कुपितो5थ भीमो जग्राह तां भीमगदां वधाय,और बोले--'वीर! तूने तो आज मुझे शीघ्रतापूर्वक बाण मारकर बहुत घायल कर दिया; किंतु अब स्वयं भी मेरी गदाका प्रहार सहन कर।' उच्च स्वरसे ऐसा कहकर कुपित हुए भीमसेनने दुःशासनके वधके लिये एक भयंकर गदा हाथमें ले ली
viddho ’smi vīrāśu bhṛśaṃ tvayādya sahasva bhūyo ’pi gadāprahāram | uktvaivam uccaiḥ kupito ’tha bhīmo jagrāha tāṃ bhīmagadāṃ vadhāya ||
Sañjaya said: “I am pierced, O hero—today you have swiftly and grievously wounded me with your arrows. Now endure, in return, the blow of my mace as well.” Saying this aloud, Bhīma, inflamed with anger, seized his terrible mace, intent on slaying Duḥśāsana.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how battlefield injury can ignite retaliatory fury, raising an ethical tension central to the epic: the kṣatriya’s duty to fight and punish wrongdoing versus the danger of letting anger become the primary motive. It frames violence as purposeful (vadhāya) yet morally charged when driven by wrath.
After being badly wounded by arrows, Bhīma shouts a challenge to endure his mace-blow in return. Enraged, he takes up his formidable mace with the explicit aim of killing Duḥśāsana, signaling an escalation from being struck to executing a decisive act of vengeance in combat.