Shloka 9
Duryodhana-śibira-praveśaḥ — The Pāṇḍavas Enter the Kaurava Camp; The Burning of Arjuna’s Chariot
चरन्तं विविधान् मार्गान् मण्डलानि च सर्वशः । दुर्योधनमिमं शूरं को5न्यो हन्याद् वृकोदरात्,“भला, नाना प्रकारके पैंतरे बदलते और सब तरहकी मण्डलाकार गतियोंसे चलते हुए इस शूरवीर दुर्योधनको भीमसेनके सिवा दूसरा कौन मार सकता था?
carantaṁ vividhān mārgān maṇḍalāni ca sarvaśaḥ | duryodhanam imaṁ śūraṁ ko 'nyo hanyād vṛkodarāt ||
സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—പലവിധ യുദ്ധമാർഗങ്ങളിൽ സഞ്ചരിച്ച്, എല്ലാതരത്തിലും വൃത്താകാര ചലനങ്ങളോടെ നീങ്ങുന്ന ഈ ശൂരൻ ദുര്യോധനനെ വൃകോദരൻ (ഭീമൻ) ഒഴികെ മറ്റാരാണ് വധിക്കാനാകുക?
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inevitability of a destined outcome in war: despite Duryodhana’s skillful, disciplined movement and tactical circling, only his fated adversary—Bhīma—was capable of bringing him down. It highlights how prowess meets its limit when confronted by a uniquely matched opponent and the larger moral-causal arc of the epic.
Sañjaya describes Duryodhana’s agile battlefield maneuvers—changing tactics and moving in circular patterns—then rhetorically asks who besides Bhīma (Vṛkodara) could have slain such a warrior. It is a reflective comment on the climactic duel’s outcome.