Shloka 25
तेषां गत्वाहमानृण्यमद्य शक्त्या परंतप । तर्पयिष्यामि तानेव जलेन यमुनामनु,शत्रुओंके संताप देनेवाले आचार्य! जो युद्धसे विमुख न होनेवाले शूरवीर सुहृद् मेरे लिये जूझते और मेरे शत्रुओंको जीतनेके लिये यथाशक्ति पूरी चेष्टा करते हुए मारे गये हैं, उनका अपनी शक्तिभर ऋण उतारकर आज मैं यमुनाके जलसे उन सभीका तर्पण करूँगा
teṣāṁ gatvāham ānṛṇyam adya śaktyā parantapa | tarpayiṣyāmi tān eva jalena yamunām anu ||
O scorcher of foes, today I shall go and, to the best of my ability, discharge my debt to those men. Following the Yamunā, I will offer them the water-oblations—those very warriors, my well-wishing friends, who did not turn away from battle, who fought for my sake, and who, striving with all their strength to conquer my enemies, have been slain. In this resolve, Duryodhana frames a ritual act of gratitude and obligation amid the moral wreckage of war: honoring the dead as creditors of his kingship and cause.
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ṛṇa (moral debt) and gratitude: a ruler recognizes obligations to those who sacrificed for him and seeks ānṛṇya—repayment—through prescribed rites (tarpana). It also shows how dharma operates even amid adharma-laden war: remembrance and ritual duty toward the dead remain binding.
Duryodhana addresses someone titled 'parantapa' and declares that he will go to the Yamunā and perform tarpana with its water for the warriors—his loyal friends—who fought for his cause and were killed while striving to defeat his enemies.