Shloka 20
भीष्मस्य दुर्योधनं प्रति उपालम्भः
Bhīṣma’s Reproof to Duryodhana
संक्रुद्धों भरतश्रेष्ठ पुत्रो दुर्योधनस्तव । वेगवन्तं महारौद्रं विद्युज्जिह्लं प्रमाथिनम्
saṅkruddhoṁ bharataśreṣṭha putro duryodhanas tava | vegavantaṁ mahāraudraṁ vidyujjihlaṁ pramāthinām ||
Sañjaya said: O best of the Bharatas, your son Duryodhana, inflamed with anger, became like a swift and exceedingly terrible force—lightning-tongued, crushing and destructive.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how krodha (anger) transforms a warrior’s energy into destructive excess. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, uncontrolled passion eclipses विवेक (discernment) and accelerates adharma, making one ‘pramāthin’—a force that harms others and ultimately oneself.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Duryodhana, provoked and furious, surges forward with terrifying momentum. The imagery—swift, fiercely violent, ‘lightning-tongued’—portrays his aggressive escalation on the battlefield.