Shloka 23

Devanagari script

दुर्योधनश्व भीमेन समेत्य गदया रणे । पश्यतां भूमिपालानामधर्मेण निपातित:,भीमसेनने भी सम्पूर्ण राजाओंके देखते-देखते रणभूमिमें गदायुद्ध करते समय दुर्योधनको अधर्मपूर्वक गिराया था

Transliteration

duryodhanaś ca bhīmena sametya gadayā raṇe | paśyatāṃ bhūmipālānām adharmeṇa nipātitaḥ ||

Translation

قال كṛپا: «إن دوريوذانا، وقد التقى ببهِيما في قتال الصولجان في ساحة الحرب، قد أُسقط على غير وجه حقّ—على مرأى من الملوك المجتمعين.»

Word by Word

दुर्योधनःDuryodhana

चand

भीमेनby Bhima

समेत्यhaving come together / having met

गदयाwith a mace

रणेin battle

पश्यताम्while (they) were watching / of the onlookers

भूमिपालानाम्of the kings (protectors of the earth)

अधर्मेणunrighteously / by adharma

निपातितःwas felled / was struck down

Speaker

कृप उवाच

Characters & Entities

Kṛpa

Duryodhana

Bhīma (Bhīmasena)

mace (gadā)

kings/rulers (bhūmipāla)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames Duryodhana’s fall as a moral issue: victory in war is not automatically righteous if achieved through adharma. By stressing that many kings witnessed it, the text highlights how public standards of kṣatriya-dharma and the rules of combat shape ethical judgment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kṛpa recalls the climactic mace-duel where Bhīma and Duryodhana fought before assembled rulers. He asserts that Duryodhana was brought down ‘by adharma,’ a charge that fuels the bitterness and retaliatory resolve that characterizes the Sauptika Parva’s night-time violence.