Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 19
Bhīma–Duryodhana Gadāyuddha Saṃkalpa
Resolve for the Mace Duel
अद्यानण्यं गमिष्यामि क्षत्रियाणां यशस्विनाम्
sañjaya uvāca | adyānanyaṃ gamiṣyāmi kṣatriyāṇāṃ yaśasvinām | etāvad uktvā vacanaṃ virarāma janādhipaḥ ||
सञ्जय उवाच—अद्यानण्यं गमिष्यामि क्षत्रियाणां यशस्विनाम् । एतावदुक्त्वा वचनं विरराम जनाधिपः ॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a warrior’s ethic where honor is conceived as ‘repaying debts’ to one’s peers and elders through battle, even unto death—showing how notions of obligation can harden into fatalistic resolve when detached from broader dharma.
Sañjaya reports that the king (Duryodhana) declares he will meet death that very day, imagining it as a repayment to illustrious kṣatriyas; after saying this much, he stops speaking and falls silent.
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