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 ||
Disse Duryodhana: “Ó rei, esta terra—onde a maioria dos meus parentes foi morta e onde cavalos e elefantes foram destruídos—agora te pertence. Goza-a sem ansiedade, livre da febre das preocupações.”
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.