Shloka 51
गदायुद्धप्रतिज्ञा — The Vow and Terms of the Mace Duel
हतबान्धवभूयिष्ठा हताश्वा हतकुञ्जरा । एषा ते पृथिवी राजन् भुड्क्ष्वैनां विगतज्वर:
hatabāndhavabhūyiṣṭhā hatāśvā hatakuñjarā | eṣā te pṛthivī rājan bhuṅkṣvaināṃ vigatajvaraḥ ||
Duryodhana berkata: “Wahai Raja, bumi ini—tempat kebanyakan kaum kerabatku terbunuh, dan kuda serta gajah dimusnahkan—kini menjadi milikmu. Nikmatilah tanpa gundah, bebas daripada resah yang membakar.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the bitter irony of sovereignty gained through mass destruction: the ‘earth’ is offered for enjoyment, yet it is saturated with loss. The phrase vigatajvaraḥ (“free from feverish anxiety”) underscores the ethical tension between outward possession and inner unrest after catastrophic war.
Duryodhana addresses a king (rājan), presenting the realm as now belonging to him, while emphasizing that it has been won at the cost of Duryodhana’s own kinsmen and the annihilation of cavalry and elephants—an image of the battlefield’s devastation and the hollowing of victory.