Shloka 11
Duryodhana-patana-anuśocana
The Fall of Duryodhana and the Contest of Restraint
कृत्वा हि सुमहत् कर्म हत्वा भीष्ममुखान् कुरून् | जय: प्राप्तो यशः प्राग्रयं वैरं च प्रतियातितम्
kṛtvā hi sumahat karma hatvā bhīṣmamukhān kurūn | jayaḥ prāpto yaśaḥ prāgryaṃ vairaṃ ca pratiyātitam ||
“Having indeed accomplished a very great deed—having slain the Kurus led by Bhīṣma—victory has been attained, the highest renown has been won, and the enmity has been repaid in full.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield success as a compound outcome: a great deed brings victory and fame, but it also culminates in the settling of enmity. Ethically, it highlights how war can be justified as duty and retribution in the epic’s worldview, while still underscoring that triumph is inseparable from the heavy moral weight of killing and the logic of feud.
Vāyudeva speaks of the completion of a major martial undertaking: the Kurus, with Bhīṣma as their leading figure, have been slain; as a result, victory and supreme renown are said to have been achieved, and the longstanding hostility is described as having been repaid.