Shloka 20
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय १४१: कर्ण–कृष्णसंवादः, उत्पात-स्वप्न-लक्षणानि
Karna–Krishna Dialogue: Omens and Dream-Signs
राजानो राजपृत्राश्न दुर्योधनवशानुगा: । प्राप्प शस्त्रेण निधन प्राप्स्यन्ति गतिमुत्तमाम्
rājāno rājaputrāś ca duryodhanavaśānugāḥ | prāpya śastreṇa nidhanaṁ prāpsyanti gatim uttamām ||
Raja-raja dan para pangeran yang tunduk pada kuasa Duryodhana, ketika menemui ajal oleh senjata, tetap akan meraih tujuan yang luhur.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between personal agency and being led by another’s influence: even if warriors fight under Duryodhana’s sway, death in battle—aligned with Kṣatriya duty—is described as yielding an exalted posthumous destiny, while the ethical culpability of provoking the war is implicitly separated from the soldiers’ battlefield end.
Sañjaya, narrating to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, speaks about the kings and princes allied with Duryodhana: they will be slain by weapons in the coming conflict, yet are said to attain a superior ‘gati’ (destiny) as a result of dying in battle.