Shloka 42
येषामामं च पक्वं च संविधत्ते युधिष्ठिर: । मेरे शत्रुओंके घरमें राजाओंद्वारा लाये हुए बहुत-से छोटे-बड़े उपहारोंको देखकर दुःखसे मुझे मरनेकी इच्छा होती थी। राजन! पाण्डवोंके वहाँ जिन लोगोंका भरण-पोषण होता है, उनकी संख्या मैं आपको बता रहा हूँ। राजा युधिष्ठिर उन सबके लिये कच्चे-पक्के भोजनकी व्यवस्था करते हैं || ४०-४१ $ ।। अयुतं त्रीणि पद्मानि गजारोहा: ससादिन:
yeṣām āmaṃ ca pakvaṃ ca saṃvidhatte yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | ayutaṃ trīṇi padmāni gajārohāḥ sasādinaḥ ||
Duryodhana said: “For all those people, King Yudhiṣṭhira provides both uncooked provisions and cooked meals. The number is vast: three ayutas and three padmas of warriors—elephant-riders together with horsemen.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage contrasts dharmic kingship—Yudhiṣṭhira’s large-hearted provision and hospitality—with adharma-driven emotion—Duryodhana’s envy and resentment. Ethical strength is shown not merely in wealth, but in using it to sustain others; moral failure appears when another’s virtue becomes a cause for hatred rather than inspiration.
In the Sabha Parva, Duryodhana describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the immense scale of Yudhiṣṭhira’s court and the Pandavas’ prosperity. He notes that Yudhiṣṭhira arranges both provisions and prepared meals for vast numbers, including military contingents (elephant-riders and cavalry), and this spectacle intensifies Duryodhana’s jealousy and antagonism.