Shloka 296
Adhyāya 8: Saṃprahāra-varṇana and Bhīma–Kṣemadhūrti Dvipa-Yuddha
Combat Description and Elephant Duel
वज़्ादू् दृढतरं मन्ये हृदयं मम दुर्भिदम् । संजय! यदि ऐसे दुःखोंसे भी मेरी मृत्यु नहीं हो रही है तो मैं ऐसा समझता हूँ कि मेरा यह हृदय वज़से भी अधिक सुदृढ़ और दुर्भेद्य है
vajrād api dṛḍhataraṃ manye hṛdayaṃ mama durbhidam | sañjaya! yadi etaiḥ duḥkhaiḥ api me mṛtyur na bhavati, tato manye mama hṛdayam vajrād api adhikaṃ sudṛḍhaṃ durbhedyaṃ ca |
Itinuturing kong ang aking puso ay mas matigas pa sa vajra, at hindi mababasag. O Sañjaya, kung kahit ang ganitong nakadadagok na mga dalamhati ay hindi pa rin nagdadala ng kamatayan sa akin, kung gayon dapat kong tanggapin na ang aking puso ay higit pang matibay kaysa vajra—hindi sumusuko at hindi natutusok. Ipinahihiwatig ng linyang ito ang bigat na moral ng pighati ng digmaan: namamangha ang nagsasalita sa malupit na pagtitiis na ipinapataw, kung saan ang pagdurusang dapat sana’y magwakas ng buhay ay lalo lamang nagpapatigas sa kalooban.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extreme suffering can paradoxically reveal (or force) an inner hardness: when grief that should shatter a person does not, one recognizes a grim resilience. Ethically, it underscores the dehumanizing pressure of war—sorrow becomes so vast that survival itself feels like a kind of unnatural endurance.
In the Karṇa Parva war context, the speaker addresses Sañjaya and reflects on overwhelming दुःख (sorrows). He marvels that he has not died from such pain, concluding that his heart must be tougher than vajra—an image expressing shock, lament, and the emotional toll of the battlefield reports.