Shloka 29
Bhīma–Draupadī Saṃvāda on Restraint, Protection, and the Kīcaka Threat
Virāṭa-parva, Adhyāya 20
नाल्पं कृतं मया भीम देवानां किल्बिषं पुरा । अभाग्या यत्र जीवामि कर्तव्ये सति पाण्डव
na alpaṃ kṛtaṃ mayā bhīma devānāṃ kilbiṣaṃ purā | abhāgyā yatra jīvāmi kartavye sati pāṇḍava ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Bhīma, in former times I committed no small offence against the gods. It is through misfortune that I live on in a place and condition where duty still remains to be done, O Pāṇḍava.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of wrongdoing (kilbiṣa) against higher principles (the devas) and frames present hardship as connected to past actions, while insisting that one must still act where duty remains (kartavye sati).
In Vaiśampāyana’s narration, a speaker addresses Bhīma (and calls him Pāṇḍava), confessing a serious past offence against the gods and lamenting an ill-fated present situation, even as obligations and necessary actions still stand before them.