Shloka 38
Duryodhana-vadha-pratikriyā: Harṣa, Nindā, and Kṛṣṇa’s Nīti-vyākhyā (Śalya-parva 60)
तस्माद्धत्वाकृतप्रज्ञं लुब्धं कामवशानुगम् । लभतां पाण्डव: काम॑ धर्मेडधर्मे च वा कृते
tasmād dhatvākṛtaprajñaṃ lubdhaṃ kāmavaśānugam | labhatāṃ pāṇḍavaḥ kāmaṃ dharme 'dharme ca vā kṛte ||
ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ನಾನು ಹೀಗೆ ಚಿಂತಿಸಿದೆ—ಬುದ್ಧಿ ವಿಕೃತನಾದ, ಲೋಭಿಯಾದ, ಕಾಮವಶನಾಗಿ ನಡೆಯುವ ದುರ್ಯೋಧನನನ್ನು ಸಂಹರಿಸಿ ಪಾಂಡವ ಭೀಮನು ತನ್ನ ಇಚ್ಛೆಯನ್ನು ಸಾಧಿಸಲಿ; ಅದು ಧರ್ಮವೆಂದು ಎಣಿಸಲ್ಪಟ್ಟರೂ, ಅಧರ್ಮವೆಂದು ಎಣಿಸಲ್ಪಟ್ಟರೂ ಸರಿ.
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.