Shloka 12
अध्याय ४ — दुर्योधनस्य असंधि-निश्चयः
Duryodhana’s Refusal of Reconciliation
जयद्रथे च निहते तव भ्रातृषु चानघ । लक्ष्मणे तव पुत्रे च किं शेषं पर्युपास्महे
jayadrathe ca nihate tava bhrātṛṣu cānagha | lakṣmaṇe tava putre ca kiṁ śeṣaṁ paryupāsmahe ||
Sañjaya dit : «Lorsque Jayadratha a été abattu, et tes frères aussi, ô irréprochable — et lorsque ton fils Lakshmana n’est plus — que nous reste-t-il pour nous appuyer ? Vers qui, désormais, pourrions-nous chercher refuge ?»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the collapse of worldly supports—power, lineage, and allies—when adharma-driven conflict reaches its end. It presses the ethical reflection that reliance on external might is fragile, and that one must face consequences when the moral and strategic foundations have been exhausted.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra the devastating losses on the Kaurava side: Jayadratha is dead, Dhritarashtra’s sons (his ‘brothers’ in the verse’s address) are gone, and even Lakshmana is not alive. Sanjaya then asks, in a deliberative and despairing tone, who remains for them to depend upon.