Shloka 39
ध्रुवं स तेन हन्तव्य इत्यमन्यत पार्थिव: । जीवितं चिरकालं हि भ्रातृणां चाप्यमन्यत,इससे राजा दुर्योधन यह मान बैठा था कि अलायुध निश्चय ही भीमसेनको मार डालेगा और यही सोचकर उसने यह भी समझ लिया था कि अभी मेरे भाइयोंका जीवन चिरस्थायी है
dhruvaṃ sa tena hantavya ity amanyata pārthivaḥ | jīvitaṃ cirakālaṃ hi bhrātṝṇāṃ cāpy amanyata ||
Sañjaya said: The king (Duryodhana) became convinced, “Surely Bhīmasena will be slain by him (Alāyudha).” Thinking thus, he also imagined that the lives of his brothers would therefore be secure for a long time—an ethically revealing moment of wishful certainty amid the moral uncertainty of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, leaders often mistake desire for certainty—Duryodhana’s confidence that an enemy will be killed becomes the basis for false security about his brothers’ survival, showing the ethical danger of delusion and overconfidence.
Sañjaya reports Duryodhana’s inner assessment: he believes Alāyudha will surely kill Bhīmasena, and from that assumption he concludes that the Kaurava brothers’ lives will be prolonged.