Shloka 61
Bhīma–Duryodhana Gadāyuddha Saṃkalpa
Resolve for the Mace Duel
वीर भरतनन्दन! तुम कवच धारण कर लो, अपने केशोंको अच्छी तरह बाँध लो तथा युद्धकी और कोई आवश्यक सामग्री जो तुम्हारे पास न हो, उसे भी ले लो ।।
vīra bharatanandana! tvaṁ kavacaṁ dhārayasva, sva-keśān suṣṭhu nibadhnīhi, yuddhasya cānyāṁ yāṁ kaścid āvaśyakāṁ sāmagrīṁ tvayi nāsti tāṁ ca gṛhāṇa. imam ekaṁ ca te kāmaṁ vīra bhūyo dadāmy aham—pañcānāṁ pāṇḍaveyānāṁ yena tvaṁ yoddhum icchasi, tam ekam eva hatvā tvaṁ rājā bhaviṣyasi; atha vā svayaṁ hataḥ svarga-lokaṁ prāpsyasi. śūra-vīra! brūhi—jīvita-rakṣāṁ vinā yuddhe tava priyaṁ kim anyat kariṣyāmaḥ?
ユディシュティラは言った。「勇士よ、バーラタの家の誉れよ、鎧を着け、髪を固く結び、戦に要るものでも手元にないものはすべて持ってゆけ。さらにもう一つ、そなたに望みの恩寵を与えよう。パーンドゥの五人の子のうち、そなたが戦いたい者を選べ――その一人だけを討ち取るなら、そなたは王となれる。だが、そなた自身が討たれるなら、天界に至るであろう。さあ勇者よ、命を守ることのほかに、この戦で我らが成し得る、そなたの望む務めは何か。」
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames kṣatriya duty in stark ethical terms: enter battle prepared, accept the consequences of combat, and recognize the two classical outcomes for a warrior—victory and sovereignty, or death and heaven—while also exposing the moral tension of granting a boon that reduces mass slaughter to a single targeted killing.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a warrior (honored as ‘Bharatanandana’), instructing him to equip himself for battle and then offering a conditional boon: he may choose any one of the five Pāṇḍavas to fight; if he kills that chosen one he can claim kingship, and if he dies he attains heaven—after which Yudhiṣṭhira asks what further favor is desired besides protection of life.