Shloka 20
Gadā-yuddhe Bhīma–Duryodhanayoḥ Tumulaḥ Saṃprahāraḥ
Mace-duel’s intense exchange
नायं प्रवेष्टा नगरं पुनर्वारणसाह्दयम् । सर्पोत्सर्गस्थ शयने विषदानस्य भोजने,“अब फिर कभी यह हस्तिनापुरमें प्रवेश नहीं करेगा। भरतश्रेष्ठ! इसने जो मेरी शय्यापर साँप छोड़ा था, भोजनमें विष दिया था, प्रमाणकोटिके जलमें मुझे गिराया था, लाक्षागृहमें जलानेकी चेष्टा की थी, भरी सभामें मेरा उपहास किया था, सर्वस्व हर लिया था तथा बारह वर्षोतक वनवास और एक वर्षतक अज्ञातवासके लिये विवश किया था; इसके द्वारा प्राप्त हुए मैं इन सभी दुःखोंका अन्त कर डालूँगा
sañjaya uvāca | nāyaṁ praveṣṭā nagaraṁ punar vāraṇasāhdayam | sarpotsargasthaśayane viṣadānasya bhojane |
Sañjaya said: “He shall never again enter the city—Hastināpura, the beloved of the Kurus. For he once set a serpent loose upon my bed, and he administered poison in my food.” (The statement evokes the remembered catalogue of Duryodhana’s earlier crimes against the Pāṇḍavas—attempted murder by snake and poison, the plot at Vāraṇāvata’s lac-house, humiliation in the assembly, dispossession, and enforced exile—framing the war as retributive justice and the ending of accumulated wrongs.)
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical logic of accountability: repeated, deliberate violations—attempted murder and treachery—accumulate moral weight and demand redress. It frames the conflict not as mere rivalry but as the consequence of sustained adharma that must be brought to an end.
Sañjaya reports a vow-like declaration that the offender will not re-enter Hastināpura. The speaker recalls earlier assassination attempts (snake released on the bed; poison in food), pointing to the broader remembered list of Duryodhana’s offenses that motivate the resolve to finish the cycle of suffering through the war’s outcome.