Shloka 32

Devanagari script

दुर्मर्षणो दुर्विषहो दुर्जयश्व महारथ: । कृत्वा त्वसुकरं कर्म गता वैवस्वतक्षयम्‌,इसी प्रकार दुर्मर्षण, दुर्विषह और महारथी दुर्जय दुष्कर कर्म करके यमराजके लोकमें जा पहुँचे हैं

Transliteration

durmarṣaṇo durviṣaho durjayaś ca mahārathaḥ | kṛtvā tv asukaraṃ karma gatā vaivasvatakṣayam ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Durmarṣaṇa, Durviṣaha, and the great chariot-warrior Durjaya—having performed a deed hard to accomplish—have gone to the abode of Vaivasvata (Yama), the realm of death.” The line underscores the grim moral atmosphere of war: heroic prowess and ‘difficult deeds’ on the battlefield culminate not in celebration but in the inevitable passage to Yama’s domain.

Word by Word

दुर्मर्षणःDurmarshana (name; hard to endure)

दुर्विषहःDurvishaha (name; hard to withstand)

दुर्जयःDurjaya (name; hard to conquer)

चand

महारथःgreat chariot-warrior

कृत्वाhaving done

तुindeed/but

असुकरम्very difficult (not easy)

कर्मdeed, act

गताःhaving gone / went

वैवस्वतक्षयम्the abode/realm of Vaivasvata (Yama)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Durmarṣaṇa

Durviṣaha

Durjaya

Yama (Vaivasvata)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even the mightiest warriors, after accomplishing formidable battlefield deeds, are still subject to mortality; the verse highlights the inevitability of death and the sobering ethical cost of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the Kaurava warriors Durmarṣaṇa, Durviṣaha, and the great chariot-warrior Durjaya have fallen in battle and have ‘gone to Vaivasvata’s abode,’ i.e., they have died.