Shloka 34

Devanagari script

अद्य दुर्योधनो राजा आत्मानं चानुशोचताम्‌

Transliteration

adya duryodhano rājā ātmānaṃ cānuśocatām

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Today King Duryodhana, lamenting, grieves even for his own self.” In the moral atmosphere of the war, the line underscores a ruler’s inner collapse—self-reproach and despair arising amid the consequences of pride-driven choices.

Word by Word

• अद्य: today / now
• अद्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य
• Form: indeclinable (temporal adverb)

• दुर्योधनः: Duryodhana
• दुर्योधनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्योधन
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• राजा: king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• आत्मानम्: himself / self
• आत्मानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन्
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च
• Form: indeclinable (conjunction)

• अनुशोचताम्: they lament / they grieve
• Type: Verb
• Root: अनुशुच्
• Form: present (lat), 3rd person, plural; parasmaipada

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Duryodhana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler who pursues power through stubbornness and unrighteous means can end in self-directed grief; inner suffering becomes a consequence of ethical failure, not merely external defeat.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Duryodhana is in a state of lamentation, grieving for himself—an indication of distress and shaken resolve amid the unfolding calamities of the Kurukṣetra war.