Shloka 18
भीमसेनस्य आत्मबलप्रशंसा — Bhīmasena’s Assertion of Strength
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 74
अहो! कायर और नपुंसककी भाँति इस समय तुम अपनेमें कुछ भी पुरुषार्थ नहीं मानते। तुम्हारे ऊपर मोह छा गया है, जिससे तुम्हारी मानसिक दशा बिगड़ गयी है ।। उद्वेपते ते हृदयं मनस्ते प्रतिसीदति । ऊरुस्तम्भगृहीतो5सि तस्मात् प्रशममिच्छसि,जान पड़ता है कि तुम्हारा हृदय काँपता है, मन शिथिल होता जाता है, तुम्हारी जाँचें मानो अकड़ गयी हैं; इसीलिये तुम शान्ति चाहते हो
udvepate te hṛdayaṃ manas te pratīsīdati | ūrustambhagṛhīto 'si tasmāt praśamam icchasi ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Your heart is trembling and your mind is sinking into dejection. It is as though your thighs have been seized by stiffness and you are unable to move forward; therefore you seek ‘peace’—not from wisdom, but from collapse of resolve.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse diagnoses moral-psychological collapse: trembling heart and sinking mind lead one to seek ‘peace’ as an escape. Ethically, it warns that true calm should arise from discernment and dharma, not from fear-driven withdrawal from rightful action.
Vaiśampāyana describes a person’s visible signs of fear and paralysis—heart trembling, mind failing, legs stiff—as a reason the person is asking for ‘praśama’ (calm/cessation). It functions as an admonitory observation within the war-counsel atmosphere of the Udyoga Parva.