Shloka 38
Gadā-yuddhe Bhīma–Duryodhanayoḥ Tumulaḥ Saṃprahāraḥ
Mace-duel’s intense exchange
कि कत्थनेन बहुना युध्यस्व त्वं वृकोदर । अद्य तेडहं विनेष्यामि युद्धअ्रद्धां कुलाधम,“वृकोदर! बहुत बढ़-बढ़कर बातें बनानेसे क्या लाभ? तू मेरे साथ संग्राम कर ले। कुलाधम! आज मैं तेरा युद्धका हौसला मिटा दूँगा
kiṁ katthanena bahunā yudhyasva tvaṁ vṛkodara | adya te 'haṁ vineṣyāmi yuddhaśraddhāṁ kulādhama ||
Sanjaya said: “What is the use of all this boasting, O Vṛkodara? Fight with me. O disgrace to your lineage, today I shall destroy your confidence for battle.” The utterance reflects the harsh, taunting rhetoric of the battlefield, where warriors seek to shake an opponent’s resolve through insult and intimidation rather than moral persuasion.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a battlefield dynamic: psychological warfare through taunts aims to destabilize an opponent’s courage (yuddhaśraddhā). Ethically, it contrasts external bravado and insult with the inner steadiness expected of a disciplined warrior.
In the Shalya Parva war setting, a speaker challenges Bhīma (Vṛkodara) to stop boasting and engage directly in combat, threatening to crush his fighting confidence and hurling the insult “kulādhama.”