Shloka 8
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproof and Vow-Logic: On Dice-Deception, Exile Terms, and the Governance of Anger
Adhyāya 35
यो न यातयते वैरमल्पसत्त्वोद्यम: पुमान् | अफलं जन्म तस्याहं मन्ये दुर्जातजायिन:,जिसका बल और उद्यम बहुत कम है, जो वैरका बदला नहीं ले सकता, उस पुरुषका जन्म अत्यन्त घृणित है। मैं तो उसके जन्मको निष्फल मानता हूँ
yo na yātayate vairam alpasattvodyamaḥ pumān | aphalaṁ janma tasyāhaṁ manye durjātajāyinaḥ ||
Bhīmasena said: 'A man of scant strength and effort who cannot requite an enmity—his very birth, in my view, is fruitless; he is as one ill-born.'
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse voices Bhīma’s kṣatriya-coded ethic: a person must have the strength and resolve to confront hostility and settle enmity; failing to do so is portrayed as a wasted life. It highlights a value system centered on honor, agency, and retaliation, which can be contrasted elsewhere in the epic with ideals of restraint and forgiveness.
In the Vana Parva context, the Pāṇḍavas are living in exile and reflecting on the injustice done to them. Bhīma, speaking with characteristic intensity, condemns weakness and urges decisive action against enemies, framing inaction as disgraceful and purposeless.