Shloka 87
मम वा मन्दभाग्यत्वान्मन्दस्ते विक्रमो युधि । धर्मराजप्रियार्थ वा द्रौपद्या वा न विद्य तत्,अथवा मेरे दुर्भाग्यसे युद्धमें तुम्हारा पराक्रम मन्द पड़ गया है। तुम धर्मराज युधिष्ठछिर अथवा द्रौपदीका प्रिय करनेके लिये ऐसा करते हो, इसका मुझे पता नहीं है
mama vā mandabhāgyatvān mandas te vikramo yudhi | dharmarāja-priyārthaṃ vā draupadyā vā na vidyate tat ||
Duryodhana said: “Either through my ill fortune your prowess in battle has grown faint, or you are holding back to please Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira—or Draupadī. I cannot discern which it is.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a warrior-ethic tension: in war, diminished effort is read as either the play of fate (daiva/mandabhāgya) or a moral/relational choice (pleasing Yudhiṣṭhira or Draupadī). It shows how leaders interpret battlefield outcomes through both destiny and perceived loyalty.
Duryodhana rebukes a fighter whose performance seems to have weakened. He suspects either his own bad luck is undermining their cause, or that the warrior is deliberately restraining himself out of regard for Yudhiṣṭhira or Draupadī.