Shloka 30
Bhīma–Draupadī Saṃvāda on Restraint, Protection, and the Kīcaka Threat
Virāṭa-parva, Adhyāya 20
'पाण्डुनन्दन भीमसेन! मैंने पूर्वकालमें देवताओंका थोड़ा अपराध नहीं किया है, तभी तो मुझ अभागिनीको जहाँ मर जाना चाहिये, उस दशामें भी मैं जी रही हूँ ।। वैशम्पायन उवाच ततस्तस्या: करौ सूक्ष्मौी किणबद्धौ वृकोदर: । मुखमानीय वै पत्न्या रुरोद परवीरहा,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! तदनन्तर शत्रुहन्ता भीमसेन अपनी पत्नी द्रौोपदीके दुबले-पतले हाथोंको, जिनमें घट्टे पड़ गये थे, अपने मुखपर लगाकर रो पड़े
vaibamp1yana uv1ca |
pa9unandana bh2bmasena! may1 pbrvak1le devat1n1 5 thoda 5 apar1dha na k9ta 25, tasm1d aham abh1gin2b yatra martum ucita 5, t1d9b2bm api j2bv1mi ||
tata 25 tasy1 25 karau s6bk 63mau ki 47abaddhau v9kodara 25 |
mukham 1n2bya vai patny1 ruroda parav2brah1 ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Bhīmasena, son of Pāṇḍu! In former times I must have committed no small offense against the gods; that is why I, unfortunate as I am, still live even in a condition in which I ought to have died.” Then Vṛkodara (Bhīma), slayer of enemy-heroes, took his wife’s thin hands, hardened with calluses, pressed them to his face, and wept.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how intense suffering can be interpreted as the fruit of past wrongdoing (apar1dha) and how witnessing anothers undeserved hardship awakens compassion and righteous resolve. It frames personal pain within a dharmic universe where injustice must be answered, yet with empathy rather than cruelty.
Draupad2b laments that she must have offended the gods in the past, since she remains alive despite a condition that feels worse than death. Bh2bma then takes her thin, callused hands to his face and weeps, showing both grief at her hardship and deep protective love.