Shloka 17
Adhyāya 8: Saṃprahāra-varṇana and Bhīma–Kṣemadhūrti Dvipa-Yuddha
Combat Description and Elephant Duel
इति यः सततं मन्दमवोचल्लो भमोहितम् । दुर्योधनमवाचीनं राज्यकामुकमातुरम्,जो राज्यकी इच्छा रखनेवाले तथा चिन्तासे आतुर हो मुँह लटकाये बैठे हुए मेरे लोभमोहित मूर्ख पुत्र दुर्योधनसे सदा यही कहा करता था कि “मैं अकेला ही युद्धस्थलमें शार्ज़् और गाण्डीव धनुष धारण करनेवाले दोनों अपराजित वीर श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनको उनके दिव्यरथसे एक साथ ही मार गिराऊँगा”
iti yaḥ satataṃ mandam avocallobhamohitam | duryodhanam avācīnaṃ rājyakāmukam āturam ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Thus he would repeatedly address Duryodhana—dull-witted, deluded by greed, morally fallen, consumed by desire for the kingdom and distressed with anxiety—sitting with a downcast face, saying again and again: “I alone, on the battlefield, will strike down together from their divine chariot those two unconquered heroes, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, who bear the Śārṅga and the Gāṇḍīva bows.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unchecked desire for power, combined with greed and delusion, leads to moral decline and reckless overconfidence. The verse frames Duryodhana’s mindset as ethically degraded (avācīna) and psychologically agitated (ātura), showing how inner disorder distorts judgment about dharma and reality.
Vaiśaṃpāyana reports that someone repeatedly spoke to Duryodhana, who sat dejected and anxious for the kingdom. The speaker boasts that he alone will kill both Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna together on the battlefield, even from their divine chariot—emphasizing the extremity of the claim against two famed, ‘unconquered’ warriors.