Shloka 24
नैतावता कृतमित्यब्रवीत् त॑ वृकोदर: संनिवृत्तार्धकाय: । शीघ्रं हि त्वां निहत॑ सानुबन्ध॑ संस्मार्यहं प्रतिवक्ष्यामि मूढ,यह देख भीमसेनने अपने आधे शरीरकों पीछेकी ओर मोड़कर कहा--'ओ मूढ़! केवल दुःशासनके रक्तपानदद्वारा ही मेरा कर्तव्य पूरा नहीं हो जाता है। तुझे भी सम्बन्धियोंसहित शीघ्र ही यमलोक भेजकर तेरे इस परिहासकी याद दिलाते हुए इसका समुचित उत्तर दूँगा”
naitāvatā kṛtam ity abravīt taṃ vṛkodaraḥ saṃnivṛttārdhakāyaḥ | śīghraṃ hi tvāṃ nihataṃ sānubandhaṃ saṃsmāryāhaṃ prativakṣyāmi mūḍha ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then Vṛkodara (Bhīma), twisting back half his body, spoke to him: “This is not all that my duty requires. Fool—soon I shall send you to Yama’s realm, together with your kin; and remembering this mockery, I will answer it in full.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral psychology of kṣatriya retribution: humiliation and adharma are not treated as isolated offenses but as debts demanding a proportionate reply. It also shows how vows and memory of insult can harden into a sense of ‘duty,’ raising ethical tension between justice and vengeance.
Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates Bhīma’s fierce retort. Bhīma, turning back in a threatening posture, declares that his task is not finished and that he will soon kill the addressed opponent along with his supporters/kin, explicitly framing it as an answer to prior mockery and wrongdoing.