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 ||
संजय बोले—आ, हे कुकुलोत्पन्न कुरु! मेरे साथ मल्लयुद्ध कर। मैं महाबली हूँ, सामर्थ्य का भोग करने वाला हूँ; जैसे कीचक मारा गया था, वैसे ही मैं तुझे भी मार गिराऊँगा।
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.