Shloka 14
द्वावेतौ ग्रसते भूमि: सर्पों बिलशयानिव । राजानं चाविरोद्धारं ब्राह्मणं चाप्रवासिनम्
dvāv etau grasate bhūmiḥ sarpōn bilaśayān iva | rājānaṃ cāvirōddhāraṃ brāhmaṇaṃ cāpravāsinam ||
Duryodhana said: “The earth swallows up these two—just as a serpent swallows creatures that dwell in holes: a king who offers no resistance, who fails to assert authority and protect order; and a brāhmaṇa who does not go forth from home, who does not undertake the disciplined life of wandering and renunciation.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Neglect of svadharma leads to downfall: a king must actively uphold order and restrain wrongdoing, while a brāhmaṇa is expected to pursue disciplined spiritual life (often idealized as going forth/wandering rather than remaining complacently settled).
In the Sabha Parva context, Duryodhana is speaking in a political-moral register, using a proverb-like image to argue that passivity in rulership and complacency in spiritual vocation are self-destructive, as if the very earth consumes such persons.