Shloka 49

अलायुधस्य भीमवधसंकल्पः

Alāyudha’s Resolve to Confront Bhīma

Devanagari script

दुर्लभो विजयस्तेषां संग्रामे रिपुसूदन । याता मृत्युवशं ते वै येषां क्रुद्धो+सि पाण्डव,'शत्रुसूदन पाण्डुनन्दन! आप जिनपर कुपित हैं, उनके लिये युद्धमें विजय दुर्लभ है। वे निश्चय ही मृत्युके वशमें हो गये हैं

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

durlabho vijayas teṣāṃ saṅgrāme ripusūdana |

yātā mṛtyuvaśaṃ te vai yeṣāṃ kruddho 'si pāṇḍava ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : «Ô pourfendeur des ennemis, ô Pāṇḍava ! Pour ceux contre qui tu t’irrites, la victoire au combat est chose rare. En vérité, ceux sur qui s’est abattue ta colère sont déjà passés sous l’empire de la Mort.»

Word by Word

दुर्लभःdifficult to obtain

विजयःvictory

तेषाम्of them

संग्रामेin battle

रिपुसूदनO slayer of foes

याताःgone / having gone

मृत्युवशम्into the power of death

तेthey

वैindeed

येषाम्of whom

क्रुद्धःangered

असिyou are

पाण्डवO Pandava

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pāṇḍava (son of Pāṇḍu; addressee)

Mṛtyu (Death, personified)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the perceived inevitability of defeat—and even death—for those who face a divinely empowered or dharma-aligned warrior’s wrath. It reflects the epic’s view that inner resolve and righteous fury in war can become a decisive moral force, making victory for the opposing side nearly impossible.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, addresses a Pāṇḍava hero with the epithet “slayer of foes,” declaring that anyone who has incurred his anger in the battlefield is as good as delivered into Death’s hands—an emphatic prediction of their impending downfall.