Shloka 110
अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope
दुर्योधनो मन्युमयो महाद्रुम: स्कन्ध: कर्ण: शकुनिस्तस्य शाखा: । दुःशासन: पुष्पफले समद्धे मूलं राजा धृतराष्ट्रोडमनीषी,दुर्योधन क्रोधमय विशाल वृक्षके समान है। कर्ण स्कन्ध, शकुनि शाखा और दुःशासन समृद्ध फल-पुष्प है। अज्ञानी राजा धृतराष्ट्र ही इसके मूल हैं-
duryodhano manyumayo mahādrumaḥ skandhaḥ karṇaḥ śakunistasya śākhāḥ | duḥśāsanaḥ puṣpaphale samṛddhe mūlaṃ rājā dhṛtarāṣṭro ’dhamanīṣī ||
Duryodhana is like a great tree made of wrath. Karna is its trunk, Shakuni its branch, and Duhshasana its luxuriant flowers and fruits. The root of this tree is King Dhritarashtra, whose understanding is base—thus the entire growth of hostility is traced back to misguided kingship and indulgence of adharma.
Educational Q&A
Unchecked anger and unethical counsel grow into a destructive force; when a ruler lacks discernment and enables wrongdoing, he becomes the ‘root cause’ that sustains and nourishes collective adharma.
The verse uses an extended metaphor of a tree to characterize the Kaurava faction: Duryodhana as wrath itself, supported by key allies (Karna, Shakuni, Duhshasana), with Dhritarashtra’s misguided judgment presented as the underlying foundation that allows this hostile power to flourish.