Shloka 7
Duryodhana-patana-anuśocana
The Fall of Duryodhana and the Contest of Restraint
प्रतिज्ञातं च भीमेन द्यूतकाले धनंजय । ऊरू भेत्स्यामि ते संख्ये गदयेति सुयोधनम्,धनंजय! जूएके समय भीमने प्रतिज्ञा करते हुए दुर्योधनसे यह कहा था कि -मैं युद्धमें गदा मारकर तेरी दोनों जाँघें तोड़ डालूँगा”
pratijñātaṃ ca bhīmena dyūtakāle dhanaṃjaya | ūrū bhetsyāmi te saṃkhye gadayeti suyodhanam ||
Vāyudeva said: “O Dhanañjaya (Arjuna), in the time of the dice-game Bhīma made this vow to Suyodhana (Duryodhana): ‘In battle I shall shatter your thighs with my mace.’” The verse recalls a binding pledge born from the humiliation and injustice of the gambling hall, now carried into the moral tension of war—where keeping one’s vow and punishing wrongdoing collide with the codes of fair combat.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the binding force of a warrior’s vow (pratijñā) and how past adharma—especially the injustice of the dice-game—creates moral momentum toward retribution. It also points to the ethical strain in war: fulfilling a vow and delivering justice may conflict with ideals of fair combat, forcing reflection on what ‘dharma’ demands in extreme circumstances.
Vāyudeva reminds Arjuna that Bhīma had earlier vowed, during the dice-game episode, to break Duryodhana’s thighs with a mace in battle. The statement foreshadows/justifies the later climactic mace-fight outcome by rooting it in a long-standing pledge made in response to the Kauravas’ wrongdoing.