Shloka 45

उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय ५४: दुर्योधनस्य धृतराष्ट्रं प्रति बलप्रशंसन-युक्तः आश्वासनवादः

Duryodhana’s Reassurance and Force-Praise to Dhritarashtra

Devanagari script

कस्मादशक्ता निर्जेतुमिति हेतुर्न विद्यते । राजाओंकी समस्त सेना एकमात्र अर्जुनको परास्त करनेमें असमर्थ कैसे होगी? इसके लिये कोई कारण नहीं है | ४४ इ || शयव्रातैस्तु भीष्मेण शतशो निचितोडवश:

Transliteration

kasmād aśaktā nirjetum iti hetur na vidyate |

Translation

Duryodhana nói: “Không có lý do chính đáng nào khiến chúng ta không thể đánh bại hắn. Sao đạo quân hợp nhất của bao nhiêu vua chúa lại bất lực trước một mình Arjuna? Chẳng có nguyên do nào cho sự bất lực ấy.”

Word by Word

कस्मात्from what? why?

अशक्ताःunable, powerless

निर्जेतुम्to conquer, to defeat

इतिthus, (quotative) 'that'

हेतुःcause, reason

नnot

विद्यतेexists, is found

शयव्रातैःwith/through the 'śayavrāta' (a troop/formation; lit. 'sleep-vow'—contextual epithet)

तुbut, however

भीष्मेणby Bhīṣma

शतशःby hundreds, in hundreds

निचितःpiled up, heaped, arranged

उडवशःUḍavaśa (name/epithet; exact referent unclear in given fragment)

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Duryodhana

Arjuna

kings (rājānaḥ)

army (senā)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how pride and overconfidence can dismiss real constraints and moral complexities. Duryodhana frames inability as irrational, revealing a mindset that equates numerical strength with inevitable victory, a common ethical blind spot in war leadership.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, Duryodhana argues that the Kauravas, supported by many kings and a vast army, should not fear Arjuna. He rejects any excuse for failure and pushes a confident, confrontational stance toward the coming conflict.