Shloka 4
वैशम्पायन उवाच तद् वै श्रुत्वा भीमसेन: कुरुमध्येउत्यमर्षण: । स्त्रीगति: पाण्डुपुत्राणामित्युवाच सुदुर्मना:,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--राजन्! कौरवोंके बीचमें कर्णकी वह बात सुनकर अत्यन्त असहनशील भीमसेन मन-ही-मन बहुत दुःखी होकर बोले--'हाय! पाण्डवोंको उबारनेवाली एक स्त्री हुई!
vaiśampāyana uvāca | tad vai śrutvā bhīmasenaḥ kurumadhye 'tyamarṣaṇaḥ | strīgatiḥ pāṇḍuputrāṇām ity uvāca sudurmanāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Hearing that, Bhīmasena—fiercely intolerant of insult—stood amid the Kurus, and, deeply dejected at heart, exclaimed: “Alas! For the sons of Pāṇḍu, their very deliverance has come to depend upon a woman!”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical sting of dishonor: Bhīma’s anguish is not merely personal rage but a kṣatriya’s shame that the Pāṇḍavas’ rescue seems to rest on a woman’s agency, exposing how adharma in the court forces unnatural dependencies and deepens moral outrage.
In the Kuru assembly, after hearing a provocative statement (contextually tied to the humiliation of the Pāṇḍavas and their household), Bhīma—unable to tolerate insult—becomes inwardly grief-stricken and blurts out that the Pāṇḍavas have come to rely on a woman as their refuge/deliverance.