Shloka 45
Bhīma–Duryodhana Gadāyuddha Saṃkalpa
Resolve for the Mace Duel
अवहासं तु त॑ मत्वा पुत्रो दुर्योधनस्तव । उद्वृत्य नयने क्रुद्धों दिधक्षुरिव पाण्डवान्
avahāsaṃ tu taṃ matvā putro duryodhanas tava | udvṛtya nayane kruddho didhakṣur iva pāṇḍavān, mahārāja ||
Sañjaya said: Taking that gesture to be a mockery, your son Duryodhana—angered—rolled his eyes and fixed his gaze upon the Pāṇḍavas, O King, as though he wished to burn them to ashes.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how inner vices—especially pride and anger—warp judgment: a neutral or customary act is misread as insult, and the mind rushes toward hostility. Ethically, it warns that unchecked resentment fuels adharma by escalating conflict through suspicion and retaliatory intent.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Duryodhana interprets a certain gesture (described as ‘that’ act) as ridicule. In response, he becomes furious, rolls his eyes, and looks at the Pāṇḍavas with a burning, destructive intent—signaling deepening animosity amid the war setting.