Shloka 66
Duryodhana-śibira-praveśaḥ — The Pāṇḍavas Enter the Kaurava Camp; The Burning of Arjuna’s Chariot
तथैवायं गदापाणिर्धातिराष्ट्री गतक्लम: । न शकक््यो धर्मतो हन्तुं कालेनापीह दण्डिना,“यह गदाधारी धृतराष्ट्रपुत्र दुर्योधन भी युद्धसे थकता नहीं था, इसे दण्डधारी काल भी धर्मानुकूल युद्धके द्वारा नहीं मार सकता था
tathaivāyaṃ gadāpāṇir dhārtarāṣṭrī gataklamaḥ | na śakyo dharmato hantuṃ kālenāpīha daṇḍinā ||
Sañjaya said: “Even so, this mace-wielding son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, unwearied by battle, could not be slain here by any righteous means—even by Time itself, the wielder of punishment.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts dharma with sheer power: even a formidable warrior may appear ‘unassailable’ within the bounds of righteous combat, suggesting that outcomes in war are constrained by ethical codes and also ultimately governed by Kāla (Time/Death), which transcends human calculation.
Sañjaya describes Duryodhana on the battlefield as tireless and extraordinarily hard to defeat. He emphasizes that, within the rules of dharma-yuddha, slaying him seems impossible—hyperbolically stating that even Kāla, the cosmic punisher, could not kill him by ‘righteous’ means in that moment.