Shloka 13

Ghaṭotkaca Slays Alāyudha (Night Battle and Māyā Countermeasures) / घटोत्कचेन अलायुधवधः

Devanagari script

तदिदं वर्तते घोरमागतं वैशसं महत्‌ । तस्यावमानाद्‌ू वाक्यस्य दुर्योधन कृते तव,दुर्योधन! विदुरजी धीर हैं, महात्मा पुरुष हैं। उन्होंने तुम्हारे कल्याणके लिये जो मंगलकारक वचन कहे थे और जिन्हें तुमने विजयके उल्लासमें अनसुना कर दिया था, उनके उन वचनोंके अनादरसे ही तुम्हारे लिये यह घोर महासंहार प्राप्त हुआ है

Transliteration

tad idaṃ vartate ghoraṃ āgataṃ vaiśasaṃ mahat | tasyāvamānād vākasya duryodhana kṛte tava duryodhana |

Translation

Sañjaya said: “This dreadful calamity—this great and brutal destruction—has now come to pass for you, O Duryodhana, because you once scorned that counsel. By disregarding the salutary words spoken for your welfare, in the intoxication of anticipated victory, you have brought this terrible slaughter upon yourself.”

Word by Word

• {'tad idam': 'this very (result), this indeed', 'vartate': 'is occurring, is taking place', 'ghoram': 'terrible, dreadful', 'āgatam': 'has come, has arrived', 'vaiśasam': 'cruelty, massacre, violent calamity', 'mahat': 'great, immense', 'tasya': 'of that', 'avamānāt': 'from contempt, from disrespect', 'vākasya': 'of the speech/words, of the counsel', 'duryodhana': 'O Duryodhana (vocative)', 'kṛte': 'for the sake of, in the case of', 'tava': 'for you, your'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Duryodhana
• Vidura

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Contempt for wise, welfare-oriented counsel—especially when driven by pride and the intoxication of success—ripens into ruin. Ethical discernment requires humility: ignoring dharmic advice invites catastrophic consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya interprets the ongoing horrors of the war as the fruition of Duryodhana’s earlier choices: he had dismissed auspicious, beneficial advice (traditionally associated with Vidura’s counsel), and that disrespect has culminated in the present great slaughter.