Shloka 64
Dvaipāyana-hrade Duryodhanasya Māyā — Yudhiṣṭhirasya Dharmoktiḥ (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 30)
ते गत्वा दूरमध्वानं न्यग्रोध॑ प्रेक्ष्य मारिष । न्यविशन्त भशं श्रान्ताश्विन्तयन्तो नृपं प्रति
te gatvā dūram adhvānaṃ nyagrodhaṃ prekṣya māriṣa | nyaviśanta bhaśaṃ śrāntāś cintayanto nṛpaṃ prati ||
Sañjaya said: After traveling a long distance, O revered one, they caught sight of a banyan tree. Worn out with fatigue, they sat down beneath it, their minds occupied with anxious thoughts about the king—Duryodhana—amid the grim pressures of the war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in a war narrative, the verse highlights a human ethical reality: exhaustion and fear make the mind cling to the fate of leadership. Concern for the king (and the cause he represents) shows how collective duty and personal anxiety intertwine, reminding readers that decisions in adharma-driven conflict burden followers as much as rulers.
After a long journey, the group reaches a banyan tree, stops there due to extreme fatigue, and sits down while thinking anxiously about the king—understood in context as Duryodhana—indicating worry about his condition and the unfolding crisis of the battle.