Shloka 52

Devanagari script

कच्चिद्‌ दुर्योधनो राजा फाल्गुनेन निपातितम्‌

Transliteration

kaccid duryodhano rājā phālgunena nipātitam

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Has King Duryodhana, by any chance, been struck down by Phālguna (Arjuna)?” The question carries the anxious moral weight of the war’s turning point: if Duryodhana falls, the Kaurava cause—rooted in pride and adharma—collapses, and the consequences of his choices reach their inevitable end.

Word by Word

• कच्चित्: whether? (I hope/indeed?)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कच्चित्

• दुर्योधनः: Duryodhana
• दुर्योधनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्योधन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• राजा: king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• फाल्गुनेन: by Phalguna (Arjuna)
• फाल्गुनेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: फाल्गुन
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• निपातितम्: struck down / felled
• निपातितम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-पत्
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular, Passive (participial)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Duryodhana
• Phālguna (Arjuna)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how adharma-driven power rests on fragile foundations: once the principal agent of wrongdoing (Duryodhana) is threatened, fear and uncertainty spread, underscoring that choices rooted in pride and injustice inevitably invite collapse.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, reporting the battlefield events, voices a worried inquiry about whether Arjuna (Phālguna) has already felled King Duryodhana—signaling a critical moment where the war’s outcome may decisively shift.