Shloka 26
कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line
धर्मार्थकामं संयुक्त त्रिवेणुं दारु बन्धुरम् । ओषधीर्वीरुधश्चैव घण्टा: पुष्पफलोपगा:,त्रिवेणु-तुल्य धर्म, अर्थ और काम--तीनोंको संयुक्त करके रथकी बैठक बनाया। फल और फूलोंसे युक्त ओषधियों एवं लताओंको घण्टाका रूप दिया
dharmārthakāmaṃ saṃyuktaṃ triveṇuṃ dāru-bandhuram | oṣadhīr vīrudhaś caiva ghaṇṭāḥ puṣpaphalopagāḥ |
Duryodhana nói: “Hợp nhất dharma, artha và kāma thành một bộ ba—như bện ba sợi trên khung gỗ—ta đã tạo nên chiếc ghế của chiến xa. Và từ những dược thảo cùng dây leo, trĩu hoa nặng quả, ta làm thành những đồ trang sức như chuông.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a crafted image to suggest that human aims—dharma (moral order), artha (power/prosperity), and kāma (desire)—can be ‘woven together’ into a single structure. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical horizon, this raises a tension: when such aims are blended without dharma governing the others, splendour and ingenuity may still serve a flawed purpose.
Duryodhana describes an act of symbolic construction and ornamentation connected with a chariot: he imagines the triad of dharma-artha-kāma as a threefold braid forming the seat, and he fashions bell-like decorations from flowering, fruit-bearing herbs and vines—projecting royal magnificence and deliberate design amid the war setting.