Shloka 9
Duryodhana-śibira-praveśaḥ — The Pāṇḍavas Enter the Kaurava Camp; The Burning of Arjuna’s Chariot
चरन्तं विविधान् मार्गान् मण्डलानि च सर्वशः । दुर्योधनमिमं शूरं को5न्यो हन्याद् वृकोदरात्
carantaṁ vividhān mārgān maṇḍalāni ca sarvaśaḥ | duryodhanam imaṁ śūraṁ ko 'nyo hanyād vṛkodarāt ||
قال سنجيا: «وهو يتنقّل في شتّى مسالك القتال، ويدور من كل جهة بمناوراتٍ حلقية، فمن غير بهيما (ڤِركودرا) كان يستطيع أن يقتل هذا الدريودھانا البطل؟»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inevitability of a destined outcome in war: despite Duryodhana’s skillful, disciplined movement and tactical circling, only his fated adversary—Bhīma—was capable of bringing him down. It highlights how prowess meets its limit when confronted by a uniquely matched opponent and the larger moral-causal arc of the epic.
Sañjaya describes Duryodhana’s agile battlefield maneuvers—changing tactics and moving in circular patterns—then rhetorically asks who besides Bhīma (Vṛkodara) could have slain such a warrior. It is a reflective comment on the climactic duel’s outcome.