Shloka 31

Bhagadattā’s Deployment Against Ghaṭotkaca; Elephant-Corps Escalation

Devanagari script

ततो दुर्योधनो राजा भ्रातृव्यसनकर्शित: । अबवीत्‌ तावकान्‌ योधान्‌ भीमो<यं युधि वध्यताम्‌,भाइयोंके मरनेसे राजा दुर्योधनको बड़ा कष्ट हुआ। अतः उसने आपके समस्त सैनिकोंको आज्ञा दी कि इस भीमसेनको युद्धमें मार डालो

Transliteration

tato duryodhano rājā bhrātṛvyasana-karśitaḥ | abravīt tāvakān yodhān bhīmo 'yaṃ yudhi vadhyatām ||

Translation

そのとき王ドゥルヨーダナは、兄弟に降りかかった災厄に胸を苛まれ、汝らの戦士たちに告げた。「このビーマを――戦場にて討て。」

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

दुर्योधनःDuryodhana

राजाthe king

भ्रातृव्यसनकर्शितःafflicted by the calamity (death) of his brothers

अब्रवीत्said, spoke

तावकान्your/your side's (own)

योधान्warriors

भीमःBhima

अयम्this (one)

युधिin battle

वध्यताम्let (him) be slain / should be killed

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Duryodhana

Bhīma

Kaurava warriors (tāvakāḥ yodhāḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse shows how sorrow over kin-loss can quickly become anger and retaliation, influencing a leader’s decisions. Ethically, it warns that grief-driven commands may intensify adharma-like violence by reducing a complex conflict to a single-minded call for killing.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Duryodhana, distressed by the deaths or ruin of his brothers, addresses the Kaurava fighters and orders them to kill Bhīma on the battlefield.