Shloka 96
धर्मरहस्योपदेशः
Dharma-rahasya Instruction: Vows, Truth, and Non-injury
दुर्योधनस्य प्रीत्यर्थ राधेयेन दुरात्मना । “दुरात्मा राधापुत्र कर्णने दुर्योधनकी प्रसन्नताके लिये मेरे सामने ही धर्मराजकी समस्त युद्ध-सामग्रीको छिन्न-भिन्न कर डाला है
sañjaya uvāca | duryodhanasya prītyarthaṃ rādheyena durātmanā |
സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ദുര്യോധനനെ പ്രസാദിപ്പിക്കുവാൻ ദുഷ്ടബുദ്ധിയായ രാധേയൻ (കർണ്ണൻ) എന്റെ കണ്ണുമുമ്പിൽ തന്നെ ധർമ്മരാജന്റെ എല്ലാ യുദ്ധസാമഗ്രികളും ചിതറിച്ചുതകർത്തു നശിപ്പിച്ചു।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how devotion to a person (here, Duryodhana) when detached from dharma can become a motive for cruelty and injustice. Pleasing an ally or patron is not ethically neutral if it requires deliberate harm, humiliation, or violation of righteous conduct in war.
Sañjaya reports that Karna, aiming to gratify Duryodhana, destroys Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira’s battle equipment in front of him. It is presented as an act of aggressive disabling and humiliation rather than merely defeating an opponent in fair combat.