अध्याय १ — न्यग्रोधवनोपवेशनम् तथा द्रौणिनिश्चयः
Night at the Banyan and Drauṇi’s Resolve
संजय! पहले समस्त भूमण्डलपर मेरी आज्ञा चलती थी और मैं सबका शिरमौर था; ऐसा होकर अब मैं दूसरोंका दास बनकर कैसे रहूँगा। मैंने स्वयं ही अपने जीवनकी अन्तिम अवस्थाको दुःखमय बना दिया है! ।।
kathaṁ bhīmasya vākyāni śrotuṁ śakṣyāmi sañjaya | yena putraśataṁ pūrṇam ekena nihataṁ mama ||
噢,三阇耶!昔日我号令遍及寰宇,我为众人之冠;而今怎能屈身为人之奴?我亲手将自己暮年铸成苦境。又怎能,噢三阇耶,去听毗摩仙那之言——那独自一人屠尽我整整百子者?
संजय उवाच
The verse highlights the moral weight of consequences: grief is intensified when one must face the agent of one’s downfall, and it implicitly points to how adharma-driven choices (partiality, ambition, refusal to restrain wrongdoing) culminate in irreversible loss.
In the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra catastrophe, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, speaking to Sañjaya, recoils at the prospect of hearing Bhīma’s words, because Bhīma is the warrior who single-handedly killed Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s hundred sons, making the king’s sorrow and humiliation acute.