Shloka 53
Sabhā Parva, Adhyāya 68 — Pāṇḍavānāṃ Vanavāsa-prasthānaḥ; Duḥśāsana-nindā; Pāṇḍava-pratijñāḥ
अस्य पापस्य दुर्बुद्धरर्भारतापसदस्य च । न पिबेयं बलाद् वक्षो भिनत्त्वा चेद् रुधिरं युधि
asya pāpasya durbuddher bhāratāpasadasya ca | na pibeyaṃ balād vakṣo bhinattvā ced rudhiraṃ yudhi, bhūmipāla |
Bhima said: “This sinner, this evil-minded one—Duhshasana, a disgrace to the Bharata line—on the battlefield I will, by force, tear open his chest and drink his blood. O king, if I do not drink it—if I fail to fulfill the vow I have spoken—then may I not attain the noble destiny of my forefathers.”
भीम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the binding force of a kshatriya vow and the moral psychology of outrage: Bhima frames Duhshasana as a stain on lineage and declares a terrifying retributive pledge, while also invoking ancestral ‘good destiny’ as the ethical-spiritual stake of keeping one’s word.
In the aftermath of the humiliation and injustice in the Kuru court, Bhima publicly vows that in the coming war he will kill Duhshasana in a brutal manner—splitting his chest and drinking his blood—and he calls down a loss of ancestral merit upon himself if he fails to carry out this pledge.