Shloka 15
Rājasūyābhiṣeka-darśana: Duryodhana’s Observation of the Consecration
भारत! संतोष लक्ष्मी और अभिमानका नाश कर देता है। दया और भय--ये दोनों भी वैसे ही हैं। इन (संतोषादि)-से युक्त मनुष्य कभी ऊँचा पद नहीं पा सकता ।। नमां प्रीणाति मद्भुक्तं श्रियं दृष्टवा युधिष्ठिरे । अति ज्वलन्तीं कौन्तेये विवर्णकरणीं मम,कुन्तीनन्दन युधिष्ठिरकी वह अत्यन्त प्रकाशमान राजलक्ष्मी देखकर मुझे भोजन अच्छा नहीं लगता। वही मेरी कान्तिको नष्ट करनेवाली है
bhārata! santoṣaḥ lakṣmīm abhīmānaṃ ca nāśayati. dayā bhayaṃ ca—ete ubhe api tathaiva. ebhiḥ (santoṣādibhiḥ) yukto manuṣyaḥ kadācana uccaṃ padaṃ na prāpnoti. na māṃ prīṇāti madbhuktaṃ śriyaṃ dṛṣṭvā yudhiṣṭhire, ati-jvalantīṃ kaunteya, vivarṇa-karaṇīṃ mama.
Duryodhana declares that contentment destroys both prosperity and pride; likewise, compassion and fear also undermine worldly ascent. A man who is governed by such qualities, he says, can never attain a high station. Then, turning to Yudhiṣṭhira, he confesses his envy: seeing Yudhiṣṭhira’s blazing royal fortune, his own food gives him no pleasure, for that splendor seems to drain the color from his face.
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse exposes the moral blindness of envy: Duryodhana treats virtues like contentment and compassion as obstacles to worldly rise, revealing a value-system driven by ambition and pride. His inability to enjoy even food upon seeing another’s prosperity illustrates how jealousy consumes inner peace and corrodes ethical judgment.
In the royal assembly context, Duryodhana reacts to Yudhiṣṭhira’s flourishing sovereignty and honor. He openly admits that Yudhiṣṭhira’s radiant fortune torments him—so much that his own meal brings no pleasure—signaling the deep resentment that will fuel later hostility.