Shloka 38

उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय ५४: दुर्योधनस्य धृतराष्ट्रं प्रति बलप्रशंसन-युक्तः आश्वासनवादः

Duryodhana’s Reassurance and Force-Praise to Dhritarashtra

Devanagari script

राजन! मैं चाहता हूँ कि युद्धमें गदा हाथमें लिये हुए भीमसेनको अपने सामने देखूँ। मैंने दीर्घकालसे अपने मनमें सदा इसी मनोरथके सिद्ध होनेकी इच्छा रखी है ।।

Transliteration

rājan! icchāmi yuddhe gadā-hastaṁ vṛkodaraṁ bhīmasenaṁ mama sammukhaṁ draṣṭum; dīrgha-kālād eva mayā manasi sadā eṣa manorathaḥ siddhiṁ gantum iṣyate. gadayā nihato hy adya mayā pārtho vṛkodaraḥ; viśīrṇa-gātraḥ pṛthivīṁ parāsuḥ prapatiṣyati.

Translation

Duryodhana berkata: “Wahai Raja, dalam pertempuran aku ingin melihat Bhīmasena—Vṛkodara—berdiri di hadapanku dengan gada di tangannya. Sejak lama hanya hasrat inilah yang kupelihara di hati, menanti saat terpenuhi. Hari ini, dihantam gada milikku, putra Pṛthā itu—Vṛkodara—akan remuk anggota tubuhnya dan, tanpa nyawa, akan roboh ke bumi.”

Word by Word

• {'rājan': 'O king (vocative address)', 'icchāmi': 'I desire, I wish', 'yuddhe': 'in battle', 'gadā-hasta': 'with a mace in hand

• mace-bearing', 'vṛkodara': '‘wolf-bellied’

• epithet of Bhīma', 'bhīmasena': 'Bhīmasena (Bhīma), son of Pāṇḍu', 'sammukham': 'in front, face-to-face', 'draṣṭum': 'to see', 'dīrgha-kālāt': 'for a long time, since long', 'manasi': 'in (my) mind/heart', 'manoratha': 'cherished wish, ambition', 'siddhi': 'fulfillment, accomplishment', 'gadayā': 'by/with the mace (instrumental)', 'nihataḥ': 'struck down, slain', 'hi': 'indeed, surely', 'adya': 'today', 'pārthaḥ': 'son of Pṛthā (Kuntī)

• here: Bhīma', 'viśīrṇa-gātraḥ': 'with limbs shattered, body broken', 'pṛthivīm': 'to the earth, on the ground', 'parāsuḥ': 'lifeless, bereft of vital breath', 'prapatiṣyati': 'will fall down'}

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Duryodhana
• Bhimasena (Bhima, Vrikodara, Partha)
• Gada (mace)
• Prithivi (earth)
• Rajan (the king addressed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how obsession with victory and personal vengeance can eclipse dharma: Duryodhana frames war as the fulfillment of a long-nursed desire to destroy a rival, revealing the ethical danger of pride and hatred driving political decisions.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, as war becomes imminent, Duryodhana declares to the king he addresses that he yearns to face Bhima in battle and imagines killing him with a mace, picturing Bhima’s body shattered and falling lifeless to the earth.