Shloka 4
सर्वथा परिहीना: सम तेजसा च बलेन च | भवता पाल्यमानास्ते विवर्धन्ते पुन: पुनः,हमलोग तेज और बलसे सर्वथा हीन हो गये हैं और वे पाण्डव आपसे सुरक्षित होनेके कारण बारंबार बढ़ते जा रहे हैं
sarvathā parihīnāḥ sma tejasā ca balena ca | bhavatā pālyamānās te vivardhante punaḥ punaḥ ||
Duryodhana said: “In every way we have become bereft of vigor and strength; while those Pāṇḍavas, being protected by you, keep growing again and again.” The line carries a moral sting: he frames the enemy’s rise not as their merit alone but as a consequence of misplaced protection, implying a failure of duty in safeguarding one’s own side during war.
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power in war is tied to leadership and responsibility: if one’s protection and policy strengthen the opponent while one’s own side declines, it signals a lapse in strategic and ethical duty (svapakṣa-rakṣaṇa) and invites self-examination rather than mere blame.
Duryodhana laments that his side has lost vigor and strength, while the Pāṇḍavas keep prospering. He attributes their repeated rise to the protection given to them by the person he is addressing, using the complaint to pressure that leader toward harsher, more decisive action.