Shloka 9
Kṛṣṇopadeśa and Duryodhana’s Challenge
Droṇa-parva, Adhyāya 77
तस्मिन् द्यूतमिदं बद्धं मन्यते स सुयोधन: । तस्मात् तस्यैव सेनाग्रं भित्त्वा यास्यामि सैन्धवम्,दुर्योधन आचार्यपर ही इस युद्धरूपी द्यूतको आबद्ध (अवलम्बित) मानता है; अतः उसीकी सेनाके अग्रभागका भेदन करके मैं सिन्धुराजके पास जाऊँगा
tasmin dyūtam idaṁ baddhaṁ manyate sa suyodhanaḥ | tasmāt tasyaiva senāgraṁ bhittvā yāsyāmi saindhavam ||
Arjuna said: “Duryodhana thinks this war is a wager staked upon that very stratagem. Therefore, breaking through the very front of his army, I shall go to Saindhava (Jayadratha).”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames war as a high-stakes ‘dyūta’ (wager): leaders may treat lives and outcomes as a calculated stake, but the dharmic response for a kṣatriya like Arjuna is decisive agency—piercing obstacles to confront the immediate source of adharma (here, Jayadratha’s role in the day’s crisis).
Arjuna declares that Duryodhana is relying on a particular tactical setup as the decisive ‘stake’ of the battle. Arjuna therefore resolves to break through the Kaurava vanguard and reach Saindhava (Jayadratha), indicating an urgent, targeted strike through enemy formations.