Shloka 20

Devanagari script

संजय उवाच दुर्योधनस्य शकुनेर्मम दुःशासनस्य च । रात्रौ रात्रौ भवत्येषा नित्यमेव समर्थना,संजयने कहा--राजन्‌! प्रतिदिन रातको दुर्योधन, शकुनि और दुःशासनका तथा मेरा भी कर्णसे यही आग्रह रहता था कि “कर्ण! कल खबेरे तुम सारी सेनाओंको छोड़कर अर्जुनको मार डालो। फिर तो पाण्डवों और पांचालोंका हम भृत्योंके समान उपभोग करेंगे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca

duryodhanasya śakuner mama duḥśāsanasya ca |

rātrau rātrau bhavaty eṣā nityam eva samarthanā ||

Translation

Sañjaya sagte: „O König, Nacht um Nacht gibt es stets dasselbe Drängen—seitens Duryodhanas, Śakunis, Duḥśāsanas und sogar von mir.“

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sañjaya said', 'duryodhanasya': 'of Duryodhana', 'śakuneḥ': 'of Śakuni', 'mama': 'of me / mine', 'duḥśāsanasya': 'of Duḥśāsana', 'ca': 'and', 'rātrau rātrau': 'night after night

• every night', 'bhavati': 'arises

• takes place', 'eṣā': 'this (feminine

• referring to the urging/counsel)', 'nityam eva': 'always indeed

• constantly', 'samarthanā': 'urging, insistence, pressing counsel

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Duryodhana
• Śakuni
• Duḥśāsana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Persistent counsel driven by obsession with victory can normalize unethical aims; repeated ‘nightly’ urging shows how group pressure and ambition can erode discernment and dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Duryodhana, Śakuni, Duḥśāsana—and even Sañjaya—repeatedly press the same plan each night, namely to push their champion (contextually Karṇa) toward a decisive act against Arjuna.