Shloka 14
जतुगृहदाहः — The Burning of the Lac House and the Pāṇḍavas’ Concealed Escape
दुर्योधन उवाच स्वागतं ते महाबाहो दिष्ट्या प्राप्तोडसि मानद | अहं च कुरुराज्यं च यथेष्टमुपभुज्यताम्,दुर्योधन बोला--महाबाहो! तुम्हारा स्वागत है। मानद! तुम यहाँ पधारे, यह हमारे लिये बड़े सौभाग्यकी बात है। मैं तथा कौरवोंका यह राज्य सब तुम्हारे हैं। तुम इनका यसथेष्ट उपभोग करो
duryodhana uvāca | svāgataṃ te mahābāho diṣṭyā prāpto 'si mānada | ahaṃ ca kururājyaṃ ca yatheṣṭam upabhujyatām ||
Duryodhana dijo: “Bienvenido seas, oh de poderosos brazos. Por fortuna has llegado, oh dador de honra. Que tanto yo como este reino de los Kurus sean disfrutados por ti según tu deseo.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how courteous hospitality can function as statecraft: generous words and offers create social and moral pressure to reciprocate, showing the ethical tension between genuine dharma (true honoring of a guest) and calculated diplomacy.
Duryodhana formally receives a powerful guest, praises his arrival as auspicious, and offers unrestricted enjoyment of himself and the Kuru kingdom—an attempt to secure the visitor’s goodwill and allegiance.