Shloka 19
भीमसेन–अलायुधयुद्धम् / Bhīmasena and Alāyudha: Night Engagement and Command Responses
कथं पतितवृत्तस्य पृथिवी सुद्दां द्रुह: विवरं नाशकद् दातुं मम पार्थिवसंसदि,मुझ आचारभ्रष्ट और मित्रद्रोहीके लिये राजाओंके समाजमें यह पृथ्वी फट क्यों नहीं जाती, जिससे मैं उसीमें समा जाऊँ
kathaṁ patitavṛttasya pṛthivī suddāṁ druhaḥ vivaraṁ nāśakad dātuṁ mama pārthivasaṁsadi |
Duryodhana said: “How is it that the earth does not split open and grant me a chasm in the assembly of kings—me, whose conduct has fallen from the right path, a betrayer of friends—so that I might sink into it?”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse dramatizes moral self-judgment: when one recognizes a fall from dharma—especially betrayal of allies—public honor becomes unbearable, and shame itself becomes a form of inner punishment.
In the midst of the war’s crisis, Duryodhana voices intense humiliation before the royal assembly, calling himself fallen in conduct and a betrayer, and wishes the earth would open to swallow him—an image of despair and self-condemnation.