Shloka 11
Adhyāya 17 — Gandhārī’s Vilāpa at Duryodhana’s Body (स्त्रीपर्व, अध्याय १७)
यो<यं मूर्धाभिषिक्तानामग्रे याति परंतप: । सो<यं पांसुषु शेतेडद्य पश्य कालस्य पर्ययम्,'शत्रुओंको संताप देनेवाला जो दुर्योधन मूर्धाभिषिक्त राजाओंके आगे-आगे चलता था, वही आज यह धूलमें लोट रहा है। कालके इस उलट-फेरको तो देखो
yo ’yaṁ mūrdhābhiṣiktānām agre yāti parantapaḥ | so ’yaṁ pāṁṣuṣu śete ’dya paśya kālasya paryayam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “He who, a scorcher of foes, used to walk at the very front of consecrated kings—he, that same man, lies today in the dust. Behold the reversal wrought by Time.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the overpowering reversals of Kāla (Time): worldly status, royal honor, and martial glory are unstable. It invites ethical reflection on pride and the fragility of power, urging humility and discernment amid success.
In the aftermath of the war, the narrator points to Duryodhana’s fallen condition: the same leader who once strode ahead of anointed kings now lies in the dust, serving as a stark image of defeat and the turning of fortune.