Shloka 21
Drupada’s Alarm and Inquiry Regarding Śikhaṇḍinī (द्रुपदस्य भय-विमर्शः)
तस्य पापस्य करणात् फल प्राप्रुहि दुर्मते । देहि युद्ध नरपते ममाद्य रणमूर्धनि
tasya pāpasya karaṇāt phala prāpruhi durmate | dehi yuddha narapate mamādya raṇamūrdhani ||
“For committing that wrongdoing, reap its fruit, O evil-minded one. Grant me battle, O lord of men—today, on the very forefront of the battlefield.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts moral causality: wrongdoing (pāpa) necessarily yields a consequence (phala). Bhīṣma frames the coming combat as the moment when the wrongdoer must ‘reap the fruit’ of his actions, emphasizing accountability rather than arbitrary violence.
Bhīṣma addresses a king as an adversary, condemning his intent as durmati (‘evil-minded’) and issuing a direct challenge: ‘Grant me battle today, at the very front of the fight.’ The speech heightens the martial tension while grounding it in an ethical claim of deserved consequence.