Shloka 7
Udyoga Parva Adhyaya 62 — Duryodhana’s Claim of Victory and Vidura’s Allegories on Discord and Risk
यदा परिकरिष्यन्ति ऐणेयानिव तन््तुना । अतरित्रानिव जले बाहुभिमामका रणे,जैसे व्याध हरिणके बच्चोंको जाल या फंदेमें फँसाकर खींचते हैं और जैसे जलका प्रवाह कर्णधाररहित नौकारोहियोंको भँवरमें डुबो देता है, उसी प्रकार जब मेरे सैनिक अपने बाहुबलसे पाण्डवोंको पीड़ित करेंगे, उस समय रथ और हाथीसवारोंसे भरी हुई मेरी विशाल वाहिनीकी ओर देखते हुए वे पाण्डव और वह श्रीकृष्ण सब अपना अहंकार त्याग देंगे
yadā parikariṣyanti aiṇeyān iva tantunā | ataritrān iva jale bāhubhir māmākā raṇe ||
Duryodhana said: “When my warriors, by the strength of their arms in battle, will seize and drag the Pāṇḍavas as hunters pull in young deer caught in a net, and when they will overwhelm them like a current that drowns boatmen in the water when there is no helmsman—then, seeing my vast host packed with chariots and elephant-riders, those Pāṇḍavas and even Kṛṣṇa will abandon their pride.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how arrogance and reliance on brute force distort moral judgment: Duryodhana imagines that sheer military pressure will break the Pāṇḍavas and even humble Kṛṣṇa. In the epic’s ethical frame, such overconfidence (mada/ahaṅkāra) is a sign of adharma and a precursor to downfall.
In Udyoga Parva, as war becomes imminent, Duryodhana speaks with swagger about the coming battle. He uses vivid similes—fawns dragged by a hunter’s net and helpless boatmen overwhelmed by water—to claim that his forces will overpower the Pāṇḍavas, forcing them (and Kṛṣṇa) to abandon their pride when confronted with his massive army.