Shloka 17
Kuntī’s Consolation to Draupadī and Lament for the Dispossessed Pandavas (सभा पर्व, अध्याय 70)
धर्मराजनिसृष्टस्तु सिंह: क्षुद्रमृगानिव । धार्तराष्ट्रानिमान् पापान् निष्पिषेयं तलासिभि:,यदि धर्मराज मुझे आज्ञा दे दें तो जैसे सिंह छोटे मृगोंको दबोच लेता है, उसी प्रकार मैं धृतराष्ट्रके इन पापी पुत्रोंको तलवारकी जगह हाथोंके तलवोंसे ही मसल डालूँ
dharmarājanisṛṣṭas tu siṁhaḥ kṣudramṛgān iva | dhārtarāṣṭrān imān pāpān niṣpiṣeyaṁ talāsibhiḥ ||
Bhīmasena declared: “If King Dharmarāja (Yudhiṣṭhira) grants leave, I shall crush Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sinful sons as a lion seizes and destroys petty beasts—not with a sword, but with my own palms.”
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even justified force is portrayed as requiring dharmic authorization: Bhīma’s power and anger are explicitly placed under Dharmarāja’s command, highlighting restraint, hierarchy, and the ethical framing of violence as duty rather than impulse.
In the tense aftermath of humiliation and injustice in the royal assembly context, Bhīma voices a fierce vow: if Yudhiṣṭhira permits, he will destroy the Kauravas with overwhelming strength—so great that he needs no weapon, only his palms.