Shloka 17
भीमसेनस्य आत्मबलप्रशंसा — Bhīmasena’s Assertion of Strength
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 74
अहो नाशंससे किज्वचित् पुंस्त्वं क्लीब इवात्मनि । कश्मलेनाभिपन्नो$सि तेन ते विकृतं मन:
aho nāśaṃsase kiṃcid api puṃs tvaṃ klība ivātmani | kaśmalenābhipanno 'si tena te vikṛtaṃ manaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Alas! You commend no manliness in yourself at all; toward your own self you are like an impotent man. You have been overcome by moral confusion, and therefore your mind has become distorted.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse censures inner collapse: when one is seized by kaśmala (ethical confusion and dejection), the mind becomes distorted and one loses the capacity to affirm one’s own courage and duty. It urges clarity, self-respect, and steadiness as prerequisites for dharmic action.
Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates a rebuke directed at a person who has fallen into despondency and self-doubt. The speaker highlights that the person no longer recognizes any manly resolve within himself and attributes this to being overwhelmed by kaśmala, which has unsettled the mind.