Shloka 10
Adhyāya 48 — Duryodhana’s Account of Tribute and the Provisioned Court (सभा पर्व, अध्याय ४८)
यच्चासहायतां राजन्नुक्तवानसि भारत । तन्मिथ्या भ्रातरो हीमे तव सर्वे वशानुगा:
yaccāsahāyatāṃ rājann uktavān asi bhārata | tan mithyā bhrātaro hīme tava sarve vaśānugāḥ ||
துரியோதனன் கூறினான்—அரசே, பாரத குலத்தவனே! நீ ‘எனக்கு துணையில்லை’ என்று சொன்னது பொய்; ஏனெனில் என் இவ்வனைத்து சகோதரரும் உன் கட்டளைக்கே கீழ்ப்பட்டு, உன் விருப்பத்தையே பின்பற்றுகின்றனர்.
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how political confidence can be built on claims of loyalty and control; ethically, it invites scrutiny of whether obedience to a ruler’s will is genuine support or merely coercion, and whether such dependence blinds one to moral accountability.
Duryodhana addresses Dhṛtarāṣṭra and rejects the idea that the king is without allies, asserting that his own brothers (the Kauravas) are fully under Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s influence and will act according to his command.