Shloka 53

Devanagari script

दुशच्यावच्यावनो जेता हन्ता ब्रद्वाद्विषां हर: । नित्यं त्राता च हन्ता च धर्माधर्माश्रितान्‌ नरान्‌,जिस लक्ष्यको मार गिराना अत्यन्त कठिन है, उसको भी गिरानेमें समर्थ, विजयशील, ब्रह्मद्रोहियोंके विनाशक भगवान्‌ शिव धर्मका आश्रय लेनेवाले मनुष्योंकी सदा रक्षा और पापियोंका विनाश करनेवाले हैं

Transliteration

duścyāvyacyāvano jetā hantā brahmadviṣāṃ haraḥ | nityaṃ trātā ca hantā ca dharmādharmāśritān narān ||

Translation

Disse Duryodhana: “Hara (Śiva) é o vencedor inconquistável — capaz de derrubar até o que é mais difícil de derrubar. Ele é o exterminador dos que se opõem a Brahman e à ordem sagrada. Sempre protege os que se refugiam no dharma e destrói os que se apegam ao adharma.”

Word by Word

दुश्च्याव्यःhard to be made to fall / difficult to dislodge

अच्याव्यःnot to be made to fall / immovable

अवनोprotector

जेताconqueror

हन्ताslayer

ब्रह्मद्विषाम्of the haters of Brahman / brahma-haters

हरःHara (Śiva)

नित्यम्always

त्राताprotector / savior

चand

हन्ताslayer

चand

धर्माधर्माश्रितान्those resorting to dharma and adharma (i.e., the righteous and the unrighteous)

नरान्men / humans

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Duryodhana

Hara (Śiva)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames Śiva as the moral governor of the world: he protects those aligned with dharma and destroys those aligned with adharma, emphasizing divine support for ethical order and accountability for wrongdoing.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Karṇa Parva war setting, Duryodhana invokes and praises Śiva’s power and justice, presenting him as an unconquerable victor and as a deity who safeguards the righteous while punishing the unrighteous.