Shloka 33
दुर्योधनस्य बलिवर्णनम् — Duryodhana’s Description of Tribute at the Rājasūya
सोऊहं न स्त्री न चाप्यस्त्री न पुमान्नापुमानपि । योऊहं तां मर्षयाम्यद्य तादृशीं श्रियमागताम्,मैं इस समय न तो स्त्री हूँ, न अस्त्रबलसे सम्पन्न हूँ, न पुरुष हूँ और न नपुंसक ही हूँ, तो भी अपने शत्रुओंके पास आयी हुई वैसी उत्कृष्ट सम्पत्तिको देखकर भी चुपचाप सहन कर रहा हूँ?
so ’haṁ na strī na cāpy astrī na pumān nāpumān api | yo ’haṁ tāṁ marṣayāmy adya tādṛśīṁ śriyam āgatām ||
Duryodhana berkata: “Apakah jenis insan aku sekarang? Aku bukan perempuan, bukan pula yang tidak bersenjata, bukan lelaki, bahkan bukan sida-sida—namun hingga hari ini aku masih berdiam diri, melihat kemakmuran yang begitu gemilang jatuh ke tangan musuh-musuhku?”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse exposes how envy and wounded pride can distort self-judgment: Duryodhana measures worth by dominance and possession, and condemns his own restraint as weakness, revealing an ethical collapse where inner control is not valued as virtue.
In the Sabha Parva context, Duryodhana is reacting to the rise and splendor of his rivals (the Pāṇḍavas). Seeing their prosperity, he vents self-disgust and frustration that he is ‘enduring’ their success instead of countering it, foreshadowing his drive toward hostility.