Shloka 24
मैत्रेयागमनम् — The Arrival of Maitreya and the Admonition to Duryodhana
युधि निर्जित्य पुरुषानाहारं नित्यमाचरन् | के यूयमभिसम्प्राप्ता भक्ष्यभूता ममान्तिकम् । युधि निर्जित्य व: सर्वान् भक्षयिष्ये गतज्वर:,“यहाँ आये हुए मनुष्योंको युद्धमें जीतकर सदा उन्हींको खाया करता हूँ। तुमलोग कौन हो? जो स्वयं ही मेरा आहार बननेके लिये मेरे निकट आ गये? मैं तुम सबको युद्धमें परास्त करके निश्चिन्त हो अपना आहार बनाऊँगा”
yudhi nirjitya puruṣān āhāraṁ nityam ācaran | ke yūyam abhisamprāptā bhakṣyabhūtā mamāntikam | yudhi nirjitya vaḥ sarvān bhakṣayiṣye gatajvaraḥ ||
“Having defeated men in battle, I habitually make them my constant food. Who are you, who have come here—already as if turned into my prey—right into my presence? After conquering all of you in combat, I shall devour you, free from any fear or agitation.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical inversion of dharma when violence becomes habitual and predatory: the speaker boasts of making defeated humans into ‘food,’ treating persons as consumable objects. It serves as a warning about adharma—cruelty, dehumanization, and the intoxication of power that erases moral restraint.
A threatening figure addresses those who have come near, declaring that he regularly defeats men in battle and eats them. He challenges their identity and announces his intent to conquer and devour them, claiming he will do so calmly (‘gata-jvaraḥ’), i.e., without anxiety or hesitation.