Shloka 8
पश्यन्तस्ते परांस्तत्र रथनागसमाकुलान् । तदा दर्प विमोक्ष्यन्ति पाण्डवा: स च केशव:,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
paśyantas te parāṁs tatra rathanāgasamākulān | tadā darpa-vimokṣyanti pāṇḍavāḥ sa ca keśavaḥ ||
Duryodhana said: “When they behold there my vast forces, crowded with chariots and war-elephants, then the Pāṇḍavas—and Keśava as well—will cast off their pride.” In the ethical frame of the epic, the line exposes Duryodhana’s confidence in sheer military might and his desire to break the opponents’ spirit, contrasting external power with the inner discipline that dharma ultimately demands.
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral danger of darpa (pride): Duryodhana assumes that overwhelming force will humble even righteous opponents. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical vision, such confidence in brute power is a symptom of adharma and misjudges the deeper sources of strength—self-mastery, right counsel, and divine alignment.
In Udyoga Parva, as war preparations intensify, Duryodhana boasts about the size and composition of his forces. He predicts that when the Pāṇḍavas and Kṛṣṇa see his army packed with chariots and elephants, they will lose their arrogance and be psychologically subdued.