Shloka 5
Bhīma–Draupadī Saṃvāda on Restraint, Protection, and the Kīcaka Threat
Virāṭa-parva, Adhyāya 20
य एव हेतुर्भवति पुरुषस्य जयावह: । पराजये च हेतुश्न स इति प्रतिपालये । कि मां न प्रतिजानीषे भीमसेन मृतामिव,जो काल मनुष्यके लिये विजयदायक होता है, वही उसकी पराजयका भी कारण बन जाता है। ऐसा विचारकर मैं अपने पक्षकी विजयके अवसरकी राह देखती हूँ। भीमसेन! क्या तुम नहीं जानते कि इन दुःखोंके आघातसे मैं मरी हुई-सी हो गयी हूँ
ya eva hetur bhavati puruṣasya jayāvahaḥ | parājaye ca hetuś ca sa iti pratipālaye | ki māṃ na pratijānīṣe bhīmasena mṛtām iva |
Vaiśampāyana said: “That very factor which becomes the cause of a man’s victory can also become the cause of his defeat. Reflecting thus, I wait and watch for the moment when victory may arise for our side. Bhīmasena, do you not recognize that, struck again and again by these sorrows, I have become as though dead?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the instability of worldly success: the very conditions that produce victory can, when circumstances shift, become the conditions of defeat. Hence one should act with discernment and patience, not intoxicated by triumph nor crushed by loss.
The speaker (as reported by Vaiśampāyana) addresses Bhīmasena, explaining a deliberate, watchful waiting for the right moment of advantage, while also expressing deep emotional exhaustion—so afflicted by grief that she feels ‘as if dead.’