Shloka 43
Adhyāya 33: Rauhiṇeya (Balarāma) is welcomed and takes his seat to witness the gadā-engagement
आयसे पुरुषे राजन् भीमसेनजिघांसया । “मैं नहीं मानता कि आपलोग युद्धमें गदाधारी दुर्योधनका सामना करनेमें समर्थ हैं। राजन्! इसने भीमसेनका वध करनेकी इच्छासे उनकी लोहेकी मूर्तिके साथ तेरह वर्षोतक गदायुद्धका अभ्यास किया है
āyase puruṣe rājan bhīmasenajighāṃsayā | rājñāpi dhṛtarāṣṭreṇa tvayā cāsmāsu yat kṛtam | samare tad duṣkṛtaṃ karma yad bhūtaṃ vāraṇāvate ||
Sañjaya berkata: «Wahai Raja, dengan niat membunuh Bhīmasena, Duryodhana telah berlatih bertarung dengan gada selama tiga belas tahun melawan patung besi. Dan wahai Duryodhana, ingatlah juga segala kezaliman yang telah dilakukan terhadap kami—oleh Raja Dhritarāshtra dan olehmu—segala perbuatan keji pada masa lalu, termasuk apa yang terjadi di Vāraṇāvata. Dalam pertempuran ini, dosa-dosa itu kini berdiri di hadapanmu sebagai akibat daripada perbuatanmu sendiri.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Deliberate wrongdoing—especially sustained cruelty and injustice—accumulates moral consequence. The verse frames the battlefield not merely as a contest of strength but as a moment where past adharmic acts (such as the Varanavata plot) return as accountability.
Sanjaya describes Duryodhana’s long preparation to kill Bhima, including practice against an iron effigy, and then invokes the memory of earlier atrocities committed by Duryodhana and supported by Dhritarashtra—particularly the events at Varanavata—implying that the present combat is the fruition of those past deeds.