Shloka 52
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 28: Dharmādharmalakṣaṇa in Āpad
Crisis-Discernment of Right and Wrong
द्यूतके समय जब पाण्डव हार गये थे, तब दुर्योधनने उनके प्रति बड़ी भयानक और कड़वी बातें कही थीं; अतः सदा सावधान रहनेवाले भीमसेन युद्धके समय गदा हाथमें लेकर दुर्योधनको उन बातोंकी याद दिलायेंगे ।। सुयोधनो मन्युमयो महाद्रुम: स्कन्ध: कर्ण: शकुनिस्तस्य शाखा: । दुःशासन: पुष्पफले समद्धे मूलं राजा धृतराष्ट्रोइमनीषी
dyūtake samaye yadā pāṇḍavā hārāḥ gatāḥ, tadā duryodhanena teṣu prati bhayānakāḥ kaṭukāś ca vācaḥ uktāḥ; ataḥ sadā sāvadhāno 'pi bhīmasenaḥ yuddha-samaye gadāṃ haste gṛhītvā duryodhanaṃ tābhir vāgbhir anusmārayiṣyati || suyodhano manyumayo mahādrumaḥ, skandhaḥ karṇaḥ, śakunistasya śākhāḥ | duḥśāsanaḥ puṣpaphale samṛddhe, mūlaṃ rājā dhṛtarāṣṭro 'manīṣī ||
Wika ni Vāyu-deva: “Nang matalo ang mga Pāṇḍava sa sugal, si Duryodhana ay nagsalita sa kanila ng mga salitang nakapanghihilakbot at mapait. Kaya sa oras ng digmaan, si Bhīmasena—na laging mapagbantay—ay hahawak sa kanyang pamalo at ipaaalala kay Duryodhana ang malulupit na panunuyang iyon. Si Suyodhana (Duryodhana) ay tulad ng isang malaking punong hinubog ng poot: si Karṇa ang punò (punong-kahoy), at si Śakuni ang mga sanga. Si Duḥśāsana ang masaganang bulaklak at bunga, at ang ugat ay si Haring Dhṛtarāṣṭra—na salat sa pag-unawa.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cruel speech and unrighteous triumph (as in the dice-hall) plant seeds that ripen into inevitable confrontation. The verse frames adharma as a growing organism: anger-fed leadership, enabled by allies, and rooted in a ruler’s lack of discernment—showing how moral failure becomes systemic and bears violent consequences.
Vāyu-deva foretells that Bhīma will, in battle, confront Duryodhana with the memory of his bitter insults from the gambling episode. He then characterizes the Kaurava faction through a tree-metaphor: Duryodhana as the wrathful tree, Karṇa as the trunk, Śakuni as the branches, Duḥśāsana as its flourishing flowers and fruits, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra as the unwise root sustaining it.