Shloka 296
Adhyāya 8: Saṃprahāra-varṇana and Bhīma–Kṣemadhūrti Dvipa-Yuddha
Combat Description and Elephant Duel
वज़्ादू् दृढतरं मन्ये हृदयं मम दुर्भिदम् । संजय! यदि ऐसे दुःखोंसे भी मेरी मृत्यु नहीं हो रही है तो मैं ऐसा समझता हूँ कि मेरा यह हृदय वज़से भी अधिक सुदृढ़ और दुर्भेद्य है
vajrād api dṛḍhataraṃ manye hṛdayaṃ mama durbhidam | sañjaya! yadi etaiḥ duḥkhaiḥ api me mṛtyur na bhavati, tato manye mama hṛdayam vajrād api adhikaṃ sudṛḍhaṃ durbhedyaṃ ca |
Je tiens mon cœur pour plus dur que le vajra, impossible à briser. Ô Sañjaya, si même de tels chagrins écrasants ne m’apportent pas la mort, je dois conclure que mon cœur est plus adamantin que le vajra lui-même — inflexible et impénétrable. Ce vers porte le poids moral du deuil de la guerre : le locuteur s’étonne de l’endurance sombre à laquelle il est contraint, quand une souffrance qui devrait ôter la vie ne fait que durcir l’être intérieur.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extreme suffering can paradoxically reveal (or force) an inner hardness: when grief that should shatter a person does not, one recognizes a grim resilience. Ethically, it underscores the dehumanizing pressure of war—sorrow becomes so vast that survival itself feels like a kind of unnatural endurance.
In the Karṇa Parva war context, the speaker addresses Sañjaya and reflects on overwhelming दुःख (sorrows). He marvels that he has not died from such pain, concluding that his heart must be tougher than vajra—an image expressing shock, lament, and the emotional toll of the battlefield reports.