Shloka 62
Dvaipāyana-hrade Duryodhanasya Māyā — Yudhiṣṭhirasya Dharmoktiḥ (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 30)
दुर्योधनस्तु तच्छुत्वा तेषां तत्र तरस्विनाम् । तथेत्युक्त्वा ह॒दं तं वै माययास्तम्भयत् प्रभो
duryodhanas tu tac chrutvā teṣāṁ tatra tarasvinām | tathety uktvā hṛdaṁ taṁ vai māyayā stambhayat prabho ||
Sañjaya said: Hearing the words of those mighty warriors there, Duryodhana replied, “So be it,” and then, by his own stratagem, he caused the water of that lake to become motionless again.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a wartime tendency to rely on māyā—cunning and manipulation—to gain advantage. Ethically, it points to the contrast between force guided by dharma (openness, restraint, fairness) and force guided by adharma (control through deception), reminding readers that ends pursued through illusion often signal moral decline.
Sañjaya narrates that Duryodhana hears the words of the powerful warriors present, agrees verbally (“tathā”), and then uses a stratagem to make the lake’s water still again—suggesting an act of concealment or tactical control over the environment in the ongoing conflict.