वाक्यशूरस्य चैवास्य परुषस्य दुरात्मन: । दुःशासनस्य रुधिरं पातास्मि मृगराडिव,और यह जो केवल बात बनानेमें बहादुर क्रूर-स्वभाववाला दुरात्मा दुःशासन है, इसकी छातीका खून उसी प्रकार पी लूँगा, जैसे सिंह किसी मृगका रक्त पान करता है
vākyāśūrasya caivāsya paruṣasya durātmanaḥ | duḥśāsanasya rudhiraṃ pātāsmi mṛgarāḍ iva ||
Bhīmasena proféra un vœu terrible : «Duḥśāsana, brave seulement en paroles, cruel de cœur et d’âme mauvaise : je boirai le sang de sa poitrine, comme le lion boit le sang de sa proie.»
भीमसेन उवाच
The verse highlights how grave violations of honor and dharma in public life can generate binding vows of retribution. It also warns that speech-only bravado and cruelty (vākyāśūra, paruṣa, durātman) invite severe consequences, while underscoring the epic’s tension between righteous justice and destructive rage.
In the Kuru assembly context, Bhīma responds to Duḥśāsana’s cruel conduct with a terrifying oath: he will drink Duḥśāsana’s blood like a lion. This functions as a narrative foreshadowing of the later battlefield act in the Kurukṣetra war.