Shloka 55
अध्याय ९ — दुर्योधनस्य अन्त्यावस्था, विलापः, तथा सौप्तिक-प्रतिवृत्तम्
Duryodhana’s Final Condition, Lamentation, and the Night’s Report
“मित्रवर! आज आचार्य कृप और कृतवर्माके साथ तुमने जो कार्य कर दिखाया है, उसे न गंगानन्दन भीष्म, न कर्ण और न तुम्हारे पिताजी ही कर सके थे ।। स च सेनापति: क्षुद्रो हत: सार्थ शिखण्डिना । तेन मन्ये मघवता सममात्मानमद्य वै,“शिखण्डीसहित वह नीच सेनापति धृष्टद्युम्न मार डाला गया, इससे आज निश्चय ही मैं अपनेको इन्द्रके समान समझता हूँ
sañjaya uvāca | mitravara! adya ācārya-kṛpa-kṛtavarmābhyāṃ saha tvayā yat karma pradarśitaṃ, tat na gaṅgānandano bhīṣmaḥ, na karṇaḥ, na ca tava pitā kartuṃ śaśāka || sa ca senāpatiḥ kṣudro hataḥ sārthaṃ śikhaṇḍinā | tena manye maghavatā samam ātmānam adya vai ||
Sañjaya said: “O best of friends! What you have accomplished today together with the teacher Kṛpa and Kṛtavarman is something that neither Bhīṣma, the son of the Gaṅgā, nor Karṇa, nor even your own father could achieve. That base commander Dhṛṣṭadyumna has been slain—along with Śikhaṇḍin. Therefore, today I truly deem myself equal to Maghavat (Indra).”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how triumph in war can be morally compromised: Sañjaya praises the deed as unprecedented, yet labels the slain commander “kṣudra,” revealing partisan judgment and the ethical dissonance of celebrating a night-killing. It implicitly warns that victory pursued through questionable means breeds pride and further moral decline.
In the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war, during the Sauptika episode, the Kaurava survivors (Aśvatthāman with Kṛpa and Kṛtavarman) have carried out a night assault. Sañjaya reports and exults that Dhṛṣṭadyumna, the Pāṇḍava commander, has been killed—along with Śikhaṇḍī—and he compares his elation to Indra’s stature.