Shloka 7
क्षत्रियस्य महाराज जये वृत्ति: समाहिता । स वै धर्मस्त्वधर्मो वा स्ववृत्तौ का परीक्षणा
kṣatriyasya mahārāja jaye vṛttiḥ samāhitā | sa vai dharmas tv adharmo vā svavṛttau kā parīkṣaṇā ||
Duryodhana said: “O great king, a kṣatriya’s whole calling is fixed upon victory. Whether that be righteous or unrighteous—what scrutiny is there to be made about one’s own appointed way of life?”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents Duryodhana’s hardline view that a kṣatriya’s defining duty is victory and dominance, treating moral evaluation (dharma vs. adharma) as secondary or even irrelevant when pursuing one’s class-based vocation.
In the Sabha Parva context, Duryodhana is articulating a political-royal rationale: he frames the warrior-king’s role as inherently oriented toward conquest, implying that success itself justifies action and that questioning the morality of such conduct is unnecessary.