Shloka 27
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय ५४: दुर्योधनस्य धृतराष्ट्रं प्रति बलप्रशंसन-युक्तः आश्वासनवादः
Duryodhana’s Reassurance and Force-Praise to Dhritarashtra
उन्मत्तमिव चापि त्वां प्रहसन्तीह दुःखितम् | विलपन्तं बहुविधं भीत॑ परविकत्थने,इतनेपर भी आप शत्रुओंकी मिथ्या प्रशंसा सुनकर पागल-से हो उठे हैं और दुःखी एवं भयभीत होकर नाना प्रकारसे विलाप कर रहे हैं। यह सब देखकर ये राजालोग यहाँ हँस रहे हैं
unmattam iva cāpi tvāṁ prahasantiha duḥkhitam | vilapantaṁ bahuvidhaṁ bhītaṁ paravikatthane ||
Duryodhana said: “Here they are laughing at you as though you were mad—seeing you distressed, frightened, and lamenting in many ways, merely because you have been listening to exaggerated talk and empty boasting about the enemy. Your loss of composure has become a spectacle before these kings.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a courtly-ethical warning: public loss of courage and indulging in talk that magnifies the enemy invites ridicule and weakens one’s standing. In a political crisis, composure and discernment in speech are treated as essential virtues.
In the Kuru assembly during the Udyoga Parva negotiations, Duryodhana rebukes a distressed interlocutor, saying that the gathered kings are laughing because the person appears panic-stricken and is lamenting after hearing boastful accounts about the enemy.