Shloka 20
ततो दुर्योधन: प्रीतः प्रियं श्रुत्वास्य तद् वच: । प्रीतिसत्कारसंयुक्त तथ्यमात्महितं शुभम्,भरतनन्दन! भीष्म और द्रोणाचार्यके मारे जानेपर कर्ण पाण्डवोंको जीत लेगा, इस आशाको हृदयमें रखकर दुर्योधनको बड़ी सान्त्वना मिली। महाराज! वह अभश्व॒त्थामाके उस प्रिय वचनको सुनकर बड़ा प्रसन्न हुआ। तत्पश्चात् अपने बाहुबलका आश्रय ले मनको सुस्थिर करके दुर्योधनने राधापुत्र कर्णसे बड़े प्रेम और सत्कारके साथ अपने लिये हितकर यथार्थ और मंगलकारक वचन इस प्रकार कहा--
tato duryodhanaḥ prītaḥ priyaṃ śrutvāsya tad vacaḥ | prītisatkārasaṃyuktaṃ tathyam ātmahitaṃ śubham |
Sañjaya said: Then Duryodhana, delighted on hearing those pleasing words from him, replied—addressing Karṇa with affection and honor—with speech that was truthful, beneficial to himself, and auspicious. The passage shows Duryodhana’s confidence renewed by hope of victory after the fall of Bhīṣma and Droṇa, and how consoling counsel can steady a wavering mind even amid morally fraught ambition.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the power of speech: words that are pleasing yet also truthful and ‘auspicious’ can stabilize a leader’s mind. At the same time, it subtly exposes an ethical tension—Duryodhana’s ‘self-benefit’ (ātmahita) is pursued within a destructive war, showing how persuasive counsel may reinforce questionable aims.
Sañjaya reports that Duryodhana becomes pleased after hearing agreeable words (contextually from Aśvatthāman) and then, with affection and honor, addresses Karṇa. The prose context explains that Duryodhana is comforted by the hope that Karṇa will defeat the Pāṇḍavas after Bhīṣma and Droṇa have fallen.