Shloka 23
अध्याय ९ — दुर्योधनस्य अन्त्यावस्था, विलापः, तथा सौप्तिक-प्रतिवृत्तम्
Duryodhana’s Final Condition, Lamentation, and the Night’s Report
धर्मयुद्धे ह्वार्मेण समाहूयौजसा मृधे । गदया भीमसेनेन निर्भग्ने सक्थिनी तव,'भीमसेनने आपको धर्मयुद्धके लिये बुलाकर रणभूमिमें अधर्मके बलसे गदाद्वारा आपकी दोनों जाँघें तोड़ डालीं
dharmayuddhe hvārmeṇa samāhūyaujasa mṛdhe | gadayā bhīmasenena nirbhagne sakthinī tava |
Sañjaya said: “In what was proclaimed a righteous duel, Bhīmasena challenged you on the battlefield; yet, by the force of unrighteousness, he shattered both your thighs with his mace.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between proclaimed dharma (a ‘righteous’ duel) and actual conduct in war: even within a dharma-yuddha framework, actions can slip into adharma, and the moral weight of victory is judged not only by outcome but by adherence to agreed rules.
Sañjaya recounts to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the climactic mace-fight episode: Bhīma challenges Duryodhana and, in the course of the duel, breaks Duryodhana’s thighs with a mace-blow—an act remembered as violating the accepted norms of mace-combat.