एष भीमो दृढक्रोधो हीनः पाण्डवसृञ्जयैः ॥
मदीयैर् आवृतो योधैः कर्ण तर्जयतीव माम् ॥
व्यक्तं द्रोणमयं लोकम् अद्य पश्यति दुर्मतिः ॥
निराशो जीवितान् नूनम् अद्य राज्याच् च पाण्डवः ॥
कर्ण उवाच
नैष जातु महाबाहुर् जीवन्न् आहवम् उत्सृजेत् ॥
न चेमान् पुरुषव्याघ्र सिंहनादान् विशक्ष्यते ॥
eṣa bhīmo dṛḍhakrodho hīnaḥ pāṇḍavasṛñjayaiḥ ||
madīyair āvṛto yodhaiḥ karṇa tarjayatīva mām ||
vyaktaṃ droṇamayaṃ lokam adya paśyati durmatiḥ ||
nirāśo jīvitān nūnam adya rājyāc ca pāṇḍavaḥ ||
karṇa uvāca
naiṣa jātu mahābāhur jīvann āhavam utsṛjet ||
na cemān puruṣavyāghra siṃhanādān viśakṣyate ||
"This Bhima here, implacable in wrath, abandoned by the Pandavas and Srinjayas, beset by my fighters, O Karna, seems as if he threatens me. Plainly the rash one now sees the world wholly full of Drona; surely now the Pandava despairs of both life and kingdom. Yet never, while alive, will this mighty-armed one ever abandon battle, nor will he, O tiger among men, give up these lion cries of his."
84ce7783b96a · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:11:21 PM UTC
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Duryodhana refutes himself in a single breath: he had just rejoiced that the enemies would never return to battle — and at once admits that Bhima "will never abandon battle while alive." Beneath the malicious glee, true knowledge of the adversary shows through, and it is unsettling. It is significant that he calls Bhima "rash," seeing "the world wholly full of Drona," yet himself feels the threat emanating from him — "seems as if he threatens me." The verse teaches that boastful confidence often dwells in the same heart alongside a hidden fear; that an enemy who has despaired of life and kingdom is the most fearsome of all, for he has nothing left to lose; and that sober knowledge of an adversary's fearlessness, breaking through the boasting, betrays that deep down the boaster understands how shaky is his hour of triumph.