कौरवाणां कुले जातः पाण्डोः पुत्रो विशेषतः ॥
द्रोणं व्यपदिशञ् शिष्यो वासुदेवसहायवान् ॥
कथम् अस्मद्विधो ब्रूयाद् भीतो ऽस्मीत्य् अयशस्करम् ॥
वचनं नरशार्दूल वज्रायुधम् अपि स्वयम् ॥
नास्मि भीतो महाबाहो सहायार्थश् च नास्ति मे ॥
यथाकामं यथायोगं गच्छ वान्यत्र तिष्ठ वा ॥
विनिवर्त्य ततो रुक्मी सेनां सागरसंनिभाम् ॥
दुर्योधनम् उपागच्छत् तथैव भरतर्षभ ॥
तथैव चाभिगम्यैनम् उवाच स नराधिपः ॥
प्रत्याख्यातश् च तेनापि स तदा शूरमानिना ॥
kauravāṇāṃ kule jātaḥ pāṇḍoḥ putro viśeṣataḥ ||
droṇaṃ vyapadiśañ śiṣyo vāsudevasahāyavān ||
katham asmadvidho brūyād bhīto 'smīty ayaśaskaram ||
vacanaṃ naraśārdūla vajrāyudham api svayam ||
nāsmi bhīto mahābāho sahāyārthaś ca nāsti me ||
yathākāmaṃ yathāyogaṃ gaccha vānyatra tiṣṭha vā ||
vinivartya tato rukmī senāṃ sāgarasaṃnibhām ||
duryodhanam upāgacchat tathaiva bharatarṣabha ||
tathaiva cābhigamyainam uvāca sa narādhipaḥ ||
pratyākhyātaś ca tenāpi sa tadā śūramāninā ||
'Born in the lineage of the Kauravas, especially as a son of Pandu, a disciple who names Drona as his teacher, and having Vasudeva as his helper — how could one such as me utter the inglorious words, "I am afraid," O tiger among men, even before the wielder of the thunderbolt himself? I am not afraid, O mighty-armed one, and I have no need of a helper. Go wherever you wish and as suits you, or else remain elsewhere.' Then Rukmi turned back his army, which resembled the ocean, and likewise came to Duryodhana, O bull among the Bharatas. In the same way he approached him and spoke; but that one too, thinking himself a hero, rejected him.
c4c27df38e69 · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:17:52 AM UTC
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Rukmi arrives as an ally, but his speech reveals not service to dharma but self-assurance and a wish to display his own strength. Arjuna's answer is not empty pride: he reminds him that his support has already been proven in battle, and it consists not in some chance helper but in Krishna, in divine weapons, in his teachers, and in his own responsibility as a kshatriya. That is why both the Pandavas and Duryodhana are left without Rukmi: the war is purified of ostentatious support that carries no inner loyalty.