Shloka 16
भीमसेन-धृष्टद्युम्नयोर्वाक्यं
Bhīmasena and Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s Speeches on Kṣātra-Dharma
तिष्ठ तिष्ठ न मे जीवन द्रोणपुत्र गमिष्यसि । एष त्वां निहनिष्यामि महिषं षण्मुखो यथा,'द्रोणपुत्र! खड़ा रह, खड़ा रह, मेरे हाथसे जीवित छूटकर नहीं जा सकेगा। जैसे कार्तिकेयने महिषासुरका वध किया था, उसी प्रकार मैं भी तुझे मार डालूँगा
tiṣṭha tiṣṭha na me jīvan droṇaputra gamiṣyasi | eṣa tvāṁ nihaniṣyāmi mahiṣaṁ ṣaṇmukho yathā ||
Sañjaya said: “Stand fast—stand fast! You will not escape me alive, O son of Droṇa. I shall strike you down, just as the six-faced Skanda slew the buffalo-demon.” In the heat of battle, the speaker frames the coming blow as righteous retribution and invokes a divine precedent to harden resolve and deny the enemy any moral or martial escape.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior ethic of facing one’s opponent directly and the use of divine precedent (Skanda’s victory) to justify and strengthen resolve. Ethically, it shows how combatants invoke dharmic or mythic models to frame lethal action as necessary retribution within the rules and psychology of war.
In the midst of battle, a fighter challenges Droṇa’s son (Aśvatthāman), ordering him to stop and declaring that he will not be allowed to escape alive. The speaker intensifies the threat by comparing the intended killing to Skanda’s slaying of the buffalo-demon.