Shloka 21

दुर्योधनकवचविमर्शः

Duryodhana’s Armor and the Tactical Reassessment

Devanagari script

क्षत्रधर्म पुरस्कृत्य गत: शूरः सतां गतिम्‌ । यां गतिं प्राप्तुयामेह ये चान्ये शस्त्रजीविन:,शूरवीर अभिमन्युने क्षत्रिय-धर्मको आगे रखकर सत्पुरुषोंकी गति पायी है, जिसे हमलोग और इस संसारके दूसरे शस्त्रधारी क्षत्रिय भी पाना चाहते हैं

Transliteration

kṣatradharma-puraskṛtya gataḥ śūraḥ satāṁ gatim | yāṁ gatiṁ prāptum icchāma iha ye cānye śastra-jīvinaḥ ||

Translation

ヴァーユは言った。「武人のダルマを先に掲げ、その英雄は善き者たちの定められた行路に到った。まさにその境地こそ、我らも、この世の武器を執る他の戦士たちも、到達を願うところである。」

Word by Word

क्षत्रधर्मम्the Kshatriya-duty

पुरस्कृत्यhaving placed in front; keeping foremost

गतःhas gone; went

शूरःthe hero/brave one

सताम्of the good/noble (people)

गतिम्the path/state; destiny

याम्which

गतिम्the destiny/state

प्राप्तुम्to attain

यामmay we go/attain

इहhere (in this world)

येwho (those who)

चand

अन्येothers

शस्त्रजीविनःthose who live by weapons; weapon-professionals

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyu (Vāyudeva)

Abhimanyu (implied by context as the 'hero')

kṣatriyas/weapon-bearing warriors (śastra-jīvinaḥ)

sat (the righteous/virtuous)

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?

The verse upholds kṣatriya-dharma: when a warrior acts with duty foremost—courage, righteousness, and steadfastness—his end is not mere death but a ‘gati’ (a noble destiny) associated with the virtuous, held up as an ethical ideal for other warriors.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu speaks in praise of the fallen hero (contextually Abhimanyu), declaring that by prioritizing the warrior’s code he has reached the exalted state of the righteous—an attainment that other weapon-bearing kṣatriyas also long for.