Shloka 17

Devanagari script

धृतराष्ट उवाच विरोधी च कुमन्त्री च प्राज्ञममानी ममात्मज: । यस्यैव समतिक्रान्तो वधोपायो जयं प्रति,धृतराष्ट्रने कहा--संजय! मेरा पुत्र दुर्योधन सबका विरोधी और अपनेको ही सबसे अधिक बुद्धिमान्‌ समझनेवाला है। उसके मन्त्री भी अच्छे नहीं हैं; इसीलिये अर्जुनके वध और विजय-लाभका यह अमोघ उपाय उसके हाथसे निकल गया है

Transliteration

dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | virodhī ca kumantṛī ca prājñamānī mamātmajaḥ | yasyaiva samatikrānto vadhopāyo jayaṃ prati ||

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra sprach: „Sañjaya, mein Sohn ist streitsüchtig und widerspenstig, schlecht beraten und bildet sich in eitler Selbsttäuschung ein, er sei weise. Darum ist ihm das unfehlbare Mittel —auf den Sieg gerichtet—, durch das Arjuna hätte getötet werden können, aus der Hand geglitten.“

Word by Word

• {'dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca': 'Dhṛtarāṣṭra said', 'virodhī': 'one who opposes

• hostile by nature', 'ca': 'and', 'kumantṛī (kumantṛī/ku-mantrī)': 'having bad counsel

• (also: having bad ministers)', 'prājñamānī': 'thinking oneself wise

• self-conceited about one’s intelligence', 'mama': 'my', 'ātmajaḥ': 'son', 'yasyaiva': 'of whom indeed

• whose very', 'samatikrāntaḥ': 'overstepped

• was missed', 'vadha-upāyaḥ': 'means/strategy for killing', 'jayaṃ prati': 'towards victory

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Sañjaya
• Duryodhana
• Arjuna

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a leadership ethic: pride in one’s own intelligence (prājñamāna) and reliance on poor counsel (kumantṛī) cause even strong opportunities to be lost. Strategic success in war—and moral responsibility in governance—depends on humility, sound advisers, and disciplined judgment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra, speaking to Sañjaya, laments Duryodhana’s combative nature and misguided self-confidence. He reflects that a decisive strategy to kill Arjuna and secure victory was not seized—implying a missed tactical moment due to flawed counsel and temperament.