Shloka 16
तदैव चेद् वीर कर्माकरिष्यो यदा द्ूते परिघं पर्यमृक्ष: । बाहू दिधक्षन् वारित: फाल्गुनेन किं दुष्कृतं भीम तदाभविष्यत्,वीर भीमसेन! द्यूतके समय जब तुमने मेरी दोनों बाँहोंको जला देनेकी इच्छा प्रकट की और अर्जुनने तुम्हें रोका, उस समय तुम शत्रुओंपर आघात करनेके लिये अपनी गदापर हाथ फेरने लगे थे। यदि उसी समय तुमने शत्रुओंपर आघात कर दिया होता तो कितना अनर्थ हो जाता। तुम अपना पुरुषार्थ तो जानते ही थे। जब मैं पूर्वोक्त प्रकारकी प्रतिज्ञा करने लगा उससे पहले ही तुमने ऐसी बात क्यों नहीं कही? जब प्रतिज्ञाके अनुसार वनवासका समय स्वीकार कर लिया, तब पीछे चलकर इस समय क्यों मुझसे अत्यन्त कठोर बातें कहते हो?
tadaiva ced vīra karmākariṣyo yadā dūte parighaṃ paryamṛkṣaḥ | bāhū didhakṣan vāritaḥ phālgunena kiṃ duṣkṛtaṃ bhīma tadābhaviṣyat vīra bhīmasena ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “If, O hero, you had acted at that very time—when, in the dice-hall, you were rubbing your iron club in readiness, and when you, wishing to burn my arms, were restrained by Arjuna—what calamity would not have arisen then, O Bhīma, O valiant Bhīmasena? You knew your own strength. Why did you not speak so before I made that pledge? After accepting the term of exile according to the vow, why do you now, later on, address me with such exceedingly harsh words?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of vows and the necessity of restraint: impulsive violence in the dice-hall would have produced immediate catastrophe, yet once a pledge (to accept exile) is undertaken, one must not undermine it later with harsh recrimination. Dharma here is shown as foresight in action and steadiness after commitment.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Bhīma, recalling the dice-hall crisis when Bhīma, enraged, readied his club and even spoke of burning Yudhiṣṭhira’s arms, but Arjuna restrained him. Yudhiṣṭhira argues that acting then would have caused great disaster; and he questions why Bhīma did not object before Yudhiṣṭhira accepted the exile vow, instead of speaking harshly afterward.