Shloka 28
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 50 — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Appraisal of Bhīmasena (भीमसेनभयवर्णनम्)
शैक्यां तात चतुष्किष्कुं पडस्रिममितौजसम् । प्रहितां दुःखसंस्पर्शा कथं शक्ष्यन्ति मे सुता:
śaikyāṃ tāta catuṣkiṣkuṃ ṣaḍasrim amitaujasam | prahitāṃ duḥkhasaṃsparśāṃ kathaṃ śakṣyanti me sutāḥ, tāta sañjaya ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra dit : «Mon fils Sañjaya, la massue de fer de Bhīmasena mesure quatre coudées, porte six arêtes et possède une puissance sans mesure. Son seul contact est douloureux. Quand Bhīma la lancera contre mes fils, comment pourront-ils endurer ses coups écrasants ?»
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how attachment and wrongdoing breed fear: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s anxiety for his sons arises from the looming consequences of their hostility toward the Pāṇḍavas. It implicitly warns that adharma invites inevitable suffering, and that power used unjustly returns as terror to those who enable injustice.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, speaking to Sañjaya, imagines the battlefield outcome and fixates on Bhīma’s formidable mace—its size, shape, and painful impact—wondering how his sons (the Kauravas) could survive when Bhīma strikes them with it.