Shloka 59
अध्याय ९ — दुर्योधनस्य अन्त्यावस्था, विलापः, तथा सौप्तिक-प्रतिवृत्तम्
Duryodhana’s Final Condition, Lamentation, and the Night’s Report
तथैव ते परिष्वक्ता: परिष्वज्य च ते नृपम् । पुनः पुन: प्रेक्षमाणा: स्वकानारुरुहू रथान्,मरनेसे पहले दुर्योधनने तीनों वीरोंको गले लगाया और उन तीनोंने भी राजाको हृदयसे लगाकर विदा दी, फिर वे बारंबार उसकी ओर देखते हुए अपने-अपने रथोंपर सवार हो गये
tathaiva te pariṣvaktāḥ pariṣvajya ca te nṛpam | punaḥ punaḥ prekṣamāṇāḥ svakān āruruhū rathān ||
Sañjaya said: “In the same way, they too embraced him; and having embraced the king, they took leave. Again and again looking back toward him, they mounted their own chariots.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in a cause moving toward ruin, human bonds—loyalty to one’s lord and comradeship—remain powerful; the verse highlights how affection and duty can persist at the threshold of death, raising ethical reflection on where such loyalty leads when aligned with adharma.
After Duryodhana embraces the three remaining Kaurava warriors, they return the embrace, repeatedly look back at him, and then mount their chariots to depart—setting the emotional and narrative transition toward the night’s ensuing actions in the Sauptika episode.