Shloka 15
Adhyaya 11 — Draupadī’s Grief, Demand for Justice, and Bhīma’s Departure
इहैव प्रायमासिष्ये तन्निबोधत पाण्डवा: । न चेत् फलमवाप्रोति द्रौणि: पापस्य कर्मण:
ihaiva prāyam āsiṣye tan nibodhata pāṇḍavāḥ | na cet phalam avāpnoti drauṇiḥ pāpasya karmaṇaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Here itself I shall undertake the fast unto death—understand this well, O Pāṇḍavas—if Droṇa’s son does not receive the due consequence of his sinful deed.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse stresses moral causality: grievous wrongdoing must bear its appropriate consequence (phala). It also highlights the gravity with which elders or narrators may frame justice—invoking an extreme vow (prāya) to insist that ethical order is not left unresolved.
In the wake of the night massacre associated with Droṇa’s son (Aśvatthāman), the speaker declares a drastic resolve: he will undertake a fast unto death on the spot unless Aśvatthāman receives the due result of his sinful action, urging the Pāṇḍavas to take the matter seriously.