Shloka 53
कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line
दुशच्यावच्यावनो जेता हन्ता ब्रद्वाद्विषां हर: । नित्यं त्राता च हन्ता च धर्माधर्माश्रितान् नरान्,जिस लक्ष्यको मार गिराना अत्यन्त कठिन है, उसको भी गिरानेमें समर्थ, विजयशील, ब्रह्मद्रोहियोंके विनाशक भगवान् शिव धर्मका आश्रय लेनेवाले मनुष्योंकी सदा रक्षा और पापियोंका विनाश करनेवाले हैं
duścyāvyacyāvano jetā hantā brahmadviṣāṃ haraḥ | nityaṃ trātā ca hantā ca dharmādharmāśritān narān ||
Duryodhana said: “Hara (Śiva) is the unconquerable victor—able to strike down even what is hardest to bring down. He is the slayer of those hostile to Brahman and the sacred order. Ever he protects those who take refuge in dharma, and he destroys those who cling to adharma.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Śiva as the moral governor of the world: he protects those aligned with dharma and destroys those aligned with adharma, emphasizing divine support for ethical order and accountability for wrongdoing.
In the Karṇa Parva war setting, Duryodhana invokes and praises Śiva’s power and justice, presenting him as an unconquerable victor and as a deity who safeguards the righteous while punishing the unrighteous.