Shloka 12

Devanagari script

प्रतियुद्धे तु नियत: स्यादस्माकं पराजय: । युधिष्ठिरस्य सर्वे हि पार्थिवा वशवर्तिन:,“उनके साथ युद्ध होनेपर हमारी पराजय निश्चित है; क्योंकि इस समय समस्त भूपाल राजा युधिष्ठिरके अधीन हैं। इस राज्यमें रहनेवाले सब लोग हमसे घृणा करते हैं। हमारे मित्र भी कुपित हो गये हैं। सम्पूर्ण नरेश और आत्मीयजन सभी हमें धिक्कार रहे हैं

Transliteration

pratiyuddhe tu niyataḥ syād asmākaṃ parājayaḥ | yudhiṣṭhirasya sarve hi pārthivā vaśavartinaḥ ||

Translation

Duryodhana sprach: „Kommt es zu einer offenen Schlacht, so ist unsere Niederlage gewiss; denn gegenwärtig stehen alle Könige unter Yudhiṣṭhiras Herrschaft.“

Word by Word

• {'pratiyuddhe': 'in counter-battle

• in direct war (locative singular)', 'tu': 'but

• however', 'niyataḥ': 'certain

• inevitable', 'syāt': "would be

• may be (optative of √as, 'to be')", 'asmākam': 'of us

• our', 'parājayaḥ': 'defeat

• overthrow', 'yudhiṣṭhirasya': 'of Yudhiṣṭhira (genitive singular)', 'sarve': 'all (masculine plural)', 'hi': 'for

• indeed', 'pārthivāḥ': 'earthly rulers

• kings', 'vaśavartinaḥ': 'obedient

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Duryodhana
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• pārthivāḥ (kings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Power in the Mahābhārata is not only military; it is also moral and political. Duryodhana’s admission implies that when many rulers align with a claimant seen as rightful (Yudhiṣṭhira), the opposing side becomes strategically weaker and ethically isolated, making defeat feel inevitable.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, as war preparations intensify, Duryodhana assesses the balance of forces. He acknowledges that most kings have come under Yudhiṣṭhira’s influence, so a direct war would likely end in the Kauravas’ defeat.