Shloka 8
धृतराष्ट्र-संजय संवादः — उपप्लव्यगमनाज्ञा
Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Saṃjaya Dialogue: Command to Proceed to Upaplavya
उत्थानवीर्य: सुखमेधमानो दुर्योधन: सुकृतं मन्यते तत् । तेषां भागं यच्च मन्येत बाल: शक््यं हर्तु जीवतां पाण्डवानाम्,दुर्योधन आरम्भमें ही पराक्रम दिखानेवाला है, (अन्ततक उसे निभा नहीं सकता;) क्योंकि वह सुखमें ही पलकर बड़ा हुआ है। वह इतना मूर्ख है कि पाण्डवोंके जीते-जी उनका भाग हर लेना सरल समझता है। इतना ही नहीं, वह इस कुकर्मको उत्तम कर्म भी मानने लगा है पितामहो नः स्थविरो मनस्वी महाप्राज्ञ: सर्वधर्मोपपन्न: । स कौरव्य: कुशली तात भीष्मो यथापूर्व वृत्तिरस्त्यस्य कच्चित् तात! मनस्वी, परम ज्ञानी तथा समस्त धर्मोके ज्ञानसे सम्पन्न हमारे बूढ़े पितामह कुरुवंशी भीष्मजी तो कुशलसे हैं न? हमलोगोंपर उनका स्नेहभाव तो पूर्ववत् बना हुआ है न?
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
utthānavīryaḥ sukhamedhamāno duryodhanaḥ sukṛtaṃ manyate tat |
teṣāṃ bhāgaṃ yac ca manyeta bālaḥ śakyaṃ hartuṃ jīvatāṃ pāṇḍavānām |
pitāmaho naḥ sthaviro manasvī mahāprajñaḥ sarvadharmopapannaḥ |
sa kauravyaḥ kuśalī tāta bhīṣmo yathāpūrva-vṛttir asty asya kaccit |
Vaiśampāyana said: Duryodhana, quick to display valor at the outset yet reared in comfort, imagines that deed to be meritorious. In his childish folly he thinks it easy, while the Pāṇḍavas still live, to seize their rightful share—and he has even begun to regard this wrongdoing as a good act. And (he asks): “Father, is our grandsire Bhīṣma—aged, high-minded, supremely wise, and grounded in every principle of dharma—well? Does his former disposition toward us, his affection and steady regard, remain as before?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights moral inversion: Duryodhana, shaped by comfort and arrogance, mistakes adharma (seizing another’s rightful share) for sukṛta (merit). It warns that self-serving desire can corrupt ethical judgment, making wrongdoing appear virtuous.
Vaiśampāyana describes Duryodhana’s mindset—he believes he can dispossess the living Pāṇḍavas and even calls it a good deed. The speech then turns to concern about Bhīṣma, the aged Kuru patriarch, asking whether he is well and whether his earlier affectionate stance toward them remains unchanged.