Shloka 343
भीमसेनस्य वेगाभिपातः—विशोकसारथिसंवादश्च
Bhīma’s surge and dialogue with charioteer Viśoka
कुरुष्व समरे कर्म ब्रह्मुबन्धुरसि ध्रुवम् । महाबाहो! आज मैं तुम्हारे देखते-देखते युद्धमें कौरवोंको जीतूँगा। तुम समरमें पराक्रम प्रकट करो। निश्चय ही तुम एक स्वधर्मश्रष्ट ब्राह्मण हो
kuruṣva samare karma brahmubandhur asi dhruvam | mahābāho! ājāhaṃ tvayā dṛṣṭvā-dṛṣṭvā yuddhe kauravān jayiṣyāmi | tvaṃ samare parākramaṃ prakaṭaya | niścaya eva tvaṃ svadharma-bhraṣṭa brāhmaṇaḥ asi |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Do your duty in battle; you are certainly a mere ‘kinsman of Brahmins’ (a Brahmin only in name). O mighty-armed one, today—before your very eyes—I shall defeat the Kauravas in war. Display your valor on the battlefield. Indeed, you are a Brahmin who has fallen away from his own dharma.”
(युधिष्टिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage stresses svadharma in a crisis: one must perform the duty appropriate to one’s station and situation (here, battlefield action). It also warns that mere birth-status without conduct is hollow—hence the sharp term brahmubandhu, implying ethical worth is proven by behavior, not lineage.
In the midst of the Karṇa Parva battle, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a warrior with a stinging rebuke, challenging him to show courage and do his battlefield duty. Yudhiṣṭhira simultaneously declares his own resolve to defeat the Kauravas that very day, framing the moment as a test of valor and adherence to dharma.