Shloka 38
तस्माद्धत्वाकृतप्रज्ञं लुब्धं कामवशानुगम् । लभतां पाण्डव: काम॑ धर्मेडधर्मे च वा कृते,इसलिये मैंने विचार किया कि कामके वशीभूत हुए लोभी और अजितात्मा दुर्योधनको मारकर धर्म या अधर्म करके पाण्डुपुत्र भीम अपनी इच्छा पूरी कर लें
tasmād dhatvākṛtaprajñaṃ lubdhaṃ kāmavaśānugam | labhatāṃ pāṇḍavaḥ kāmaṃ dharme 'dharme ca vā kṛte ||
“Therefore, having slain Duryodhana—one whose judgment is perverted, who is greedy, and who follows the sway of desire—let the Pāṇḍava (Bhīma) attain his wished-for end, whether by an act deemed righteous or even by one deemed unrighteous.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds a crisis of dharma in wartime: when confronting an opponent driven by greed and desire, the speaker frames victory and the fulfillment of a vow as paramount—even if the means risk slipping from dharma into adharma—thereby highlighting the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between righteous ends and morally compromised methods.
In the climactic phase of the Kurukṣetra war, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks about bringing down Duryodhana, characterizing him as deluded and desire-driven, and urges that Bhīma should achieve his intended objective by killing him, regardless of whether the act is judged as dharmic or adharmic.