Shloka 41
एकत्रिंशन्महाराज पुत्रांस्तव निपातितान् । हतान् दुर्योधनो दृष्ट्वा क्षत्तु: सस्मार तद् वच:,महाराज! आपके इकतीस (दुःशलको लेकर बत्तीस) पुत्रोंको मारा गया देखकर दुर्योधनको विदुरजीकी कही हुई बात याद आ गयी
ekatriṁśan mahārāja putrāṁs tava nipātitān | hatān duryodhano dṛṣṭvā kṣattuḥ sasmāra tad vacaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: O King, seeing that thirty-one of your sons had been struck down—lying slain—Duryodhana recalled the words once spoken by Vidura. In that moment, the mounting cost of adharma in war pressed upon his mind, as forewarning turned into lived consequence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Wise counsel ignored returns as remorse when consequences mature. The verse highlights the ethical arc of the epic: adharma-driven choices in war inevitably yield personal loss, and Vidura’s dharmic warnings prove true when tragedy becomes undeniable.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that many of his sons have been killed. On seeing this devastation, Duryodhana is shaken into remembering Vidura’s earlier admonitions—words that had warned of ruin if the path of hostility and injustice continued.