Shloka 8
Somadatta’s Kṣātra-Dharma Accusation; Night Combat, Māyā, and the Fall of Ghaṭotkaca
Droṇa-parva, Adhyāya 131
न मे<र्जुनादू भयं तादृक् कृष्णान्नापि च सात्वतात् । हुतभुग्जन्मनो नैव याद्ग्भीमाद् भयं मम,मुझे भीमसेनसे जैसा भय लगता है, वैसा न तो अर्जुनसे और न श्रीकृष्णसे, न सात्यकिसे और न धृष्टद्युम्नसे ही लगता है
na me 'rjunād bhayaṃ tādṛk kṛṣṇān nāpi ca sātvatāt | hutabhug-janmano naiva yādṛg bhīmād bhayaṃ mama ||
धृतराष्ट्र उवाच—न मेऽर्जुनाद् भयं तादृक् कृष्णान्नापि च सात्वतात्। न धृष्टद्युम्नादपि नैव हुतभुग्जन्मनः; भीमसेनादेव तु भयं मम॥
धघतयाट्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how fear is shaped not merely by fame or divinity but by perceived immediacy and past experience: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s anxiety concentrates on Bhīma, whose vow-driven ferocity and history of confronting the Kauravas make him, in Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s mind, the most personally threatening agent of consequence.
In the Drona Parva’s later battle context, Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks to Sañjaya, assessing the danger posed by key Pāṇḍava allies. He declares that neither Arjuna nor Kṛṣṇa nor Sātyaki nor Dhṛṣṭadyumna frighten him as much as Bhīma does, revealing the king’s dread about the war’s outcome and the retribution Bhīma is expected to exact.