SB 3.1.37 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

किं वा कृताघेष्वघमत्यमर्षी भीमोऽहिवद्दीर्घतमं व्यमुञ्चत् । यस्याङ्‌घ्रि पातं रणभूर्न सेहे मार्गं गदायाश्चरतो विचित्रम् ॥ ३७ ॥

Verse text

kiṁ vā kṛtāgheṣv agham atyamarṣī bhīmo ’hivad dīrghatamaṁ vyamuṣcat yasyāṅghri-pātaṁ raṇa-bhūr na sehe mārgaṁ gadāyāś carato vicitram

Synonyms

kim — whether ; vā — either ; kṛta — performed ; agheṣu — unto the sinners ; agham — anger ; ati — amarṣī — unconquerable ; bhīmaḥ — Bhīma ; ahi — vat — like a cobra ; dīrgha — tamam — long-cherished ; vyamuṣcat — has released ; yasya — whose ; aṅghri — pātam — putting on the steps ; raṇa — bhūḥ — the field of battle ; na — could not ; sehe — tolerate ; mārgam — the path ; gadāyāḥ — by the clubs ; carataḥ — playing ; vicitram — wonderful .

Translation

[Please tell me] whether the unconquerable Bhīma, who is like a cobra, has released his long-cherished anger upon the sinners? The field of battle could not tolerate even the wonderful playing of his club when he stepped on the path.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Has snake-like, intensely angry Bhīma, wandering over the battle field with his club and other weapons, whose footsteps the battlefield could not tolerate, given up his long standing anger towards those who offended him? Has snake-like Bhīma given up the impurity (agham), like poison, caused by thinking for a long time of killing the Kurus who offended him?

Purport

Vidura knew the strength of Bhīma. Whenever Bhīma was on the battlefield, his steps on the path and the wonderful playing of his club were unbearable for the enemy. Powerful Bhīma did not take steps against the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra for a long time. Vidura’s inquiry was whether he had yet released his anger, which was like that of a suffering cobra. When a cobra releases its venom after long-cherished anger, its victim cannot survive.