Shloka 233
Gadā-yuddhe Bhīma–Duryodhanayoḥ Tumulaḥ Saṃprahāraḥ
Mace-duel’s intense exchange
समाप्तं भरतश्रेष्ठ मातापित्रोश्व दर्शनम् । “आज एक दिनमें इसका वध करके मैं अपने-आपसे उऋण हो जाऊँगा। भरतभूषण! आज दुर्बुद्धि एवं अजितात्मा धृतराष्ट्रपुत्रकी आयु समाप्त हो गयी है। इसे माता-पिताके दर्शनका अवसर भी अब नहीं मिलनेवाला है
samāptaṃ bharataśreṣṭha mātāpitror darśanam | “adya eka-dinena asya vadhaṃ kṛtvā ahaṃ svayam-ṛṇo bhaviṣyāmi | bharatabhūṣaṇa! adya durbuddhiḥ ajitātmā dhṛtarāṣṭra-putrasya āyuḥ samāptā | asmai mātā-pitṛ-darśanasya avasaro 'pi idānīṃ na bhaviṣyati”
Sabi ni Sanjaya: “O pinakamainam sa mga Bharata, nagwakas na ang pagkakataon niyang masilayan ang kanyang ina at ama. ‘Ngayong araw, sa loob ng iisang araw, sa pagpatay sa kanya ay mapapalaya ko ang aking sarili sa sarili kong pagkakautang. O hiyas ng angkan ng Bharata! Ngayong araw, ang takdang buhay ng anak ni Dhṛtarāṣṭra—mangmang sa payo at di nagagapi ang sarili—ay umabot na sa hangganan. Wala na siyang pagkakataon, kahit man lamang, na makita ang kanyang mga magulang.’”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames war-death as the culmination of moral and psychological failure: lack of self-mastery (ajitātmā) and misguided counsel (durbuddhi) lead to a fate where even basic human consolations—like seeing one’s parents—are cut off. It also highlights the warrior’s sense of obligation (ṛṇa) and the dangerous ethic of ‘repaying’ debts through violence.
Sañjaya reports that a Kaurava prince, identified as Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son, is at the end of his life. A speaker within the reported speech declares that he will kill him that very day and thereby become ‘free of debt,’ while noting that the doomed prince will no longer have any chance to see his mother and father.