Shloka 32
अथाह भीम: पुनरुग्रकर्मा दुःशासनं क्रोधपरीतचेता: । गतासुमालोक्य विहस्य सुस्वरं किं वा कुर्या मृत्युना रक्षितोडसि,तदनन्तर भयानक कर्म करनेवाले भीमसेन क्रोधसे व्याकुलचित हो दुःशासनको प्राणहीन हुआ देख जोर-जोरसे अट्टहास करते हुए बोले--“क्या करूँ? मृत्युने तुझे दुर्दशासे बचा दिया”
athāha bhīmaḥ punar ugrakarmā duḥśāsanaṁ krodhaparītacetāḥ | gatāsum ālokya vihasya susvaraṁ kiṁ vā kuryā mṛtyunā rakṣito ’si ||
Sañjaya said: Then Bhīma, again bent on dreadful deeds and with his mind overwhelmed by wrath, looked upon Duḥśāsana lying lifeless. Laughing aloud in a harsh, ringing voice, he said, “What more can I do? Death has already protected you—saving you from the full measure of the misery you deserve.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how anger can eclipse discernment: even after an enemy is dead, the mind driven by vengeance seeks further humiliation. It serves as a cautionary moment in the epic’s ethical landscape—victory in war does not automatically align with dharma when it is fueled by uncontrolled krodha.
Sañjaya describes Bhīma seeing Duḥśāsana already lifeless. Bhīma laughs loudly and speaks with bitter irony, saying that Death has ‘protected’ Duḥśāsana—implying that dying has spared him from the additional suffering or disgrace Bhīma, in his rage, might have inflicted.