Shloka 26
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 72 — Bhīmasena’s counsel on conciliation and Duryodhana’s disposition
ईषत् कार्यो वधस्तस्य यस्य चारित्रमीदृशम् | प्रस्कन्देन प्रतिस्तब्धश्छिन्नमूल इव द्रुम:,जिसका चरित्र इतना गिरा हुआ है, उसका वध करना तो बहुत साधारण कार्य है। जिसकी जड़ कट गयी हो और जो गोल वेदीके आधारपर खड़ा हो, उस वृक्षकी भाँति दुर्योधनके भी धराशायी होनेमें अब अधिक विलम्ब नहीं है
īṣat kāryo vadhastasya yasya cāritram īdṛśam | praskandena pratistabdhaś chinnamūla iva drumaḥ |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “To slay one whose conduct is of such a kind is, in truth, an easy task. Like a tree whose roots have been cut and which stands only propped up by a support, Duryodhana too will not take long to fall.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links political fate to ethical character: when conduct is corrupt, downfall becomes inevitable—like a root-cut tree that may appear standing only because it is temporarily propped up.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, Yudhiṣṭhira comments on Duryodhana’s degraded conduct and predicts that his collapse is near, using the image of a tree standing only by external support after its roots are cut.