Shloka 17
Duryodhana-vadha-pratikriyā: Harṣa, Nindā, and Kṛṣṇa’s Nīti-vyākhyā (Śalya-parva 60)
सुयोधनस्य गदया भडद्भक्तास्म्यूरू महाहवे । इति पूर्व प्रतिज्ञातं भीमेन हि सभातले,“मैं समझता हूँ कि इस जगत्में अपनी प्रतिज्ञाका पालन करना क्षत्रियके लिये धर्म ही है। पहले सभामें भीमसेनने यह प्रतिज्ञा की थी कि “मैं महायुद्धमें अपनी गदासे दुर्योधनकी दोनों जाँघें तोड़ डालूँगा”
sañjaya uvāca |
suyodhanasya gadayā bhagnabhaktāsy ūrū mahāhave |
iti pūrvaṃ pratijñātaṃ bhīmena hi sabhātale ||
Sanjaya said: “In the great battle, Bhima had earlier vowed in the royal assembly: ‘With my mace I shall shatter Suyodhana’s thighs.’” The verse recalls the binding force of a warrior’s pledge—how a kṣatriya’s sense of dharma is tied to keeping a public vow, even when it leads to a grim and decisive act in war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal that a publicly made vow (pratijñā) must be upheld as a matter of dharma. It frames Bhima’s later act not as a sudden impulse but as the fulfillment of a solemn pledge, emphasizing accountability and the moral weight of one’s word.
Sanjaya reminds Dhritarashtra that Bhima had earlier, in the assembly hall, vowed to break Duryodhana’s thighs with his mace in the great war. The line functions as a narrative recall, linking the present battlefield outcome to an earlier courtly humiliation and its promised retribution.