Shloka 49
अलायुधस्य भीमवधसंकल्पः
Alāyudha’s Resolve to Confront Bhīma
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
sañjaya uvāca |
durlabho vijayas teṣāṃ saṅgrāme ripusūdana |
yātā mṛtyuvaśaṃ te vai yeṣāṃ kruddho 'si pāṇḍava ||
Sañjaya said: O slayer of foes, victory in battle is hard to attain for those against whom you, O Pāṇḍava, are wrathful. Indeed, those upon whom your anger has fallen have already come under the dominion of Death—such is the moral force of a righteous warrior’s resolve when it is kindled in war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.