Shloka 23
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय २५: संजयदूतवाक्यम्
Sañjaya’s Envoy-Speech on Peace
जानन्त्येतत् कुरव: सर्व एव ये चाप्यन्ये भूमिपाला: समेता: । दुर्योधने राज्यमिहाभवद् यथा अरिंदमे फाल्गुने विद्यमाने
sañjaya uvāca |
jānanti etat kuravaḥ sarva eva ye cāpy anye bhūmipālāḥ sametāḥ |
duryodhane rājyam ihābhavad yathā arindame phālgune vidyamāne ||
サンジャヤは言った。「クル族の者たちも、そこに集った他国の王たちも皆知っている――敵を屈するファールグナ（アルジュナ）がなお在るのに、スヨーダナがいかにしてこの国を手に入れたかを。意味は明白である。公然たる勝負で武勇により得たのではなく、欺きの手段、すなわち賭博の策によってパーンダヴァから王国を奪い取ったのだ。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Political power lacking righteous acquisition is morally compromised. The verse underscores that the wider royal assembly knows Duryodhana’s sovereignty arose not from heroic merit but from deceitful dispossession, highlighting the ethical fault-line that drives the conflict.
Sañjaya reports a widely acknowledged fact among the Kurus and other kings: despite Arjuna’s presence and prowess, Duryodhana came to hold the kingdom through a stratagem (the dice-game episode), not through fair martial victory—setting the stage for the ensuing confrontation.