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Mahabharata 9.57.18

Mahābhārata 9.57.18

Language
Sanskrit

9.57.18

dhanaṃjayastu śrutvaitatkeśavasya mahātmanaḥ |
prekṣato bhīmasenasya hastenorumatāḍayat || 18 ||

This has been an act of great folly on the part of Yudhishthira, O Pandava, since he hath made the result of the battle depend upon the victory or the defeat of only one warrior! Suyodhana is accomplished, he is a hero; he is again firmly resolved. This old verse uttered by Usanas hath been heard by us. Listen to me as I recite it to thee with its true sense and meaning! 'Those amongst the remnant of a hostile force broken flying away for life, that rally and come back to the fight, should always be feared, for they are firmly resolved and have but one purpose! Shakra himself, O Dhananjaya, cannot stand before them that rush in fury, having abandoned all hope of life. This Suyodhana had broken and fled. All his troops had been killed. He had entered the depths of a lake. He had been defeated and, therefore, he had desired to retire into the woods, having become hopeless of retaining his kingdom. What man is there, possessed of any wisdom, that would challenge such a person to a single combat? I do not know whether Duryodhana may not succeed in snatching the kingdom that had already become ours! For full thirteen years he practised with the mace with great resolution. Even now, for slaying Bhimasena, he jumpeth up and leapeth transversely! If the mighty-armed Bhima does not slay him unfairly, the son of Dhritarashtra will surely remain king!" Having heard those words of the high-souled Keshava, Dhananjaya struck his own left thigh before the eyes of Bhimasena.

Kisari Mohan Ganguli 1883, The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

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