Shloka 23
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय २५: संजयदूतवाक्यम्
Sañjaya’s Envoy-Speech on Peace
जानन्त्येतत् कुरव: सर्व एव ये चाप्यन्ये भूमिपाला: समेता: । दुर्योधने राज्यमिहाभवद् यथा अरिंदमे फाल्गुने विद्यमाने
sañjaya uvāca |
jānanti etat kuravaḥ sarva eva ye cāpy anye bhūmipālāḥ sametāḥ |
duryodhane rājyam ihābhavad yathā arindame phālgune vidyamāne ||
Sanjaya said: All the Kurus, and the other assembled kings as well, know this—how Duryodhana came to possess the kingdom here, even while Phalguna (Arjuna), the subduer of foes, was present. The meaning is plain: it was not won by valor in open contest, but seized through deceit, by the gambling stratagem that dispossessed the Pandavas.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Political power lacking righteous acquisition is morally compromised. The verse underscores that the wider royal assembly knows Duryodhana’s sovereignty arose not from heroic merit but from deceitful dispossession, highlighting the ethical fault-line that drives the conflict.
Sañjaya reports a widely acknowledged fact among the Kurus and other kings: despite Arjuna’s presence and prowess, Duryodhana came to hold the kingdom through a stratagem (the dice-game episode), not through fair martial victory—setting the stage for the ensuing confrontation.