Shloka 108
Adhyāya 141 — Night duels: Śaineya and Bhūriśravas; Droṇi and Ghaṭotkaca; Bhīma and Duryodhana
मल्लयुद्ध॑ मया सार्ध कुरु दुष्कुलसम्भव । महाबलो महाभोगी कीचको निहतो यथा
mallayuddhaṁ mayā sārdha kuru duṣkulasambhava | mahābalo mahābhogī kīcako nihato yathā ||
Sañjaya dit : «Viens donc, ô Kuru né d’une lignée déchue : combats avec moi dans un duel de lutte. Je suis d’une grande force et rompu à la jouissance du pouvoir ; je t’abattrai comme Kīcaka fut abattu.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how pride and contemptuous speech (insults, self-boasting) are used to provoke combat; ethically, it contrasts the warrior ideal of courage with the moral risk of arrogance and demeaning others.
A speaker issues a direct challenge to a Kuru warrior for close-quarters ‘wrestler-style’ combat, boasting of strength and invoking the earlier example of Kīcaka’s death as a threat of similar defeat.