Shloka 13

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproof and Vow-Logic: On Dice-Deception, Exile Terms, and the Governance of Anger

Adhyāya 35

Devanagari script

अमर्षजो हि संताप: पावकाद दीप्तिमत्तर: । येनाहमभिसंतप्तो न नक्त न दिवा शये,योडयमेको5भिमनुते सर्वान्‌ लोके धनुर्भुतः । सो<यमात्मजमूष्माणं महाहस्तीव यच्छति जो अकेले ही संसारके समस्त धनुर्धर वीरोंका सामना कर सकते हैं, वे ही अर्जुन महान्‌ गजराजकी भाँति अपने मानसिक क्रोधजनित संतापको किसी प्रकार रोक रहे हैं

Transliteration

Bhīmasena uvāca — amarṣajo hi santāpaḥ pāvakād dīptimattaraḥ | yenāham abhisantapto na naktaṁ na divā śaye | yo ’yam eko ’bhimanute sarvān loke dhanurbhṛtaḥ | so ’yam ātmajam uṣmāṇaṁ mahāhastīva yacchati ||

Translation

Bhīma said: “The burning anguish born of indignation is fiercer even than fire. By it I am so inflamed that I can neither sleep by night nor by day. Yet he—who alone deems himself able to face all the bow-bearing warriors in the world—he, like a mighty elephant, somehow restrains the heat of his own inner wrath.”

Word by Word

• {'amarṣa-jaḥ': 'born of indignation

• arising from intolerance of insult/injustice', 'santāpaḥ': 'burning pain, torment, inner heat', 'pāvaka': 'fire', 'dīptimat-taraḥ': 'more blazing, more intense', 'abhisantaptaḥ': 'thoroughly inflamed/tormented', 'na naktaṁ na divā': 'neither at night nor by day', 'śaye': 'I lie down

• I sleep', 'ekaḥ': 'alone, single-handed', 'abhimanute': 'thinks, considers, prides himself', 'sarvān': 'all', 'loke': 'in the world', 'dhanurbhṛtaḥ': 'bow-bearers

• archers/warriors carrying bows', 'so ’yam': 'this very one

• he indeed', 'ātmajam': 'one’s own

• born from oneself (here: one’s own inner)', 'uṣmāṇam': 'heat, warmth

• figuratively the heat of anger', 'mahā-hastī': 'great elephant', 'iva': 'like, as', 'yacchati': 'holds back, restrains, checks'}

Speaker

भीमसेन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīmasena (Bhīma)
• Arjuna (implied by context: the single archer who can face all bowmen)
• pāvaka (fire)
• mahāhastī (mighty elephant)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Indignation can burn more fiercely than physical fire, but true strength includes the capacity to restrain that inner heat. The verse contrasts Bhīma’s sleepless agitation with the ideal of disciplined self-control, even in a warrior who has the power to confront all opponents.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīma voices his intense anger and restlessness, saying he cannot sleep due to the heat of indignation. He then points to Arjuna (the peerless archer) as someone who, despite being capable of facing all bow-bearing warriors, is nevertheless holding back his own wrath—like a great elephant restraining its force.