Shloka 43
भीमसेन-धृष्टद्युम्नयोर्वाक्यं
Bhīmasena and Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s Speeches on Kṣātra-Dharma
द्रोणाचार्यके रथकी ओर आते हुए युद्धपरायण भीमसेनको स्वयं राजा दुर्योधनने पैने बाणोंसे बींध डाला ।। त॑ भीमसेनो दशक: शरैरविव्याध मारिष | दुर्योधनो5पि विंशत्या शराणां प्रत्यविध्यत,माननीय नरेश! तब भीमसेनने भी दुर्योधनको दस बाणोंसे घायल किया। फिर दुर्योधनने भी उन्हें बीस बाण मारे
taṁ bhīmaseno daśakaḥ śarair avivyādha māriṣa | duryodhano 'pi viṁśatyā śarāṇāṁ pratyavidhyata ||
Sañjaya said: O venerable king, Bhīmasena struck Duryodhana with ten sharp arrows. Duryodhana, intent on meeting force with force, retaliated by piercing Bhīma with twenty arrows. Thus, in the heat of battle, each answered the other’s assault with a measured yet escalating counterstroke, revealing both martial resolve and the hardening cycle of violence that war sustains.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the reciprocal logic of battlefield ethics: a warrior answers an attack with a counterattack, often intensifying the exchange. It implicitly points to how conflict tends to escalate through retaliation, even when framed as kṣatriya-duty.
In the Drona Parva battle sequence, Bhīma wounds Duryodhana with ten arrows; Duryodhana immediately retaliates by striking Bhīma with twenty arrows, showing a fierce exchange of missile combat.