Shloka 73
उत्तिषवीत्तिष्ठ युध्यस्व युद्धे श्रेयो भविष्यति । याद है न, तुमने हमलोगोंको जला डालनेके लिये विशेष प्रयत्न किया था। भीमको विषधर सर्पोंसे डसवाया, विष खिलाकर उन्हें पानीमें डुबाया, हमलोगोंका राज्य छीनकर हमें अपने कपटजालका शिकार बनाया, द्रौपदीको कठु वचन सुनाये और उसके केश खींचे। पापी! इन सब कारणोंसे तुम्हारा जीवन नष्ट-सा हो चुका है। उठो-उठो, युद्ध करो; इसीसे तुम्हारा कल्याण होगा || ७०--७२ $ ।। एवं तु विविधा वाचो जययुक्ता: पुनः पुनः । कीर्तयन्ति सम ते वीरास्तत्र तत्र जनाधिप,नरेश्वर! वे विजयी वीर पाण्डव इस प्रकार वहाँ बारंबार नाना प्रकारकी बातें कहने लगे
uttiṣṭha vīra tiṣṭha yudhyasva yuddhe śreyo bhaviṣyati |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Rise, hero—stand up and fight. In battle, that alone will be better for you. You once strove with special effort to burn us alive; you had Bhīma bitten by venomous serpents, fed him poison and cast him into the water; you seized our kingdom and ensnared us in your web of deceit; you hurled harsh words at Draupadī and dragged her by the hair. Sinner! For these reasons your life is as good as destroyed. Rise, rise—fight; by that alone will your welfare be served.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid war, the text frames action through dharma: a wrongdoer must face consequences, and for a kṣatriya the honorable course is to stand and fight rather than evade responsibility. The speech links past adharma (deceit, attempted murder, humiliation of Draupadī) to inevitable retribution, urging a final, duty-bound confrontation.
On the battlefield in Śalya Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses his enemy (implicitly Duryodhana), recounting earlier crimes against the Pāṇḍavas—attempted burning, poisoning Bhīma, usurping the kingdom, and insulting Draupadī—and challenges him to rise and fight, declaring that battle is now his only ‘better’ path.