Shloka 19

धृतराष्ट्रस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति व्यवहार-रक्षा-नियमनोपदेशः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Instruction on Administration, Punishment, and Daily Governance

Devanagari script

कष्टात्‌ कष्टतरं यान्तु सर्वे दुर्योधनादय:

Transliteration

kaṣṭāt kaṣṭataraṁ yāntu sarve duryodhanādayaḥ

Translation

毗湿摩波耶那说道：“愿他们所有人——以难敌为首——由艰难堕入更为严酷的命运。”此句对那些以傲慢与罪过驱动战争之人作出道德裁断，暗示不义（adharma）的后果非但不减，反而愈加沉重。

Word by Word

• कष्टात्: from hardship
• कष्टात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कष्ट
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• कष्टतरम्: more difficult (thing/state)
• कष्टतरम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कष्टतर
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• यान्तु: may (they) go/attain
• Type: Verb
• Root: या
• Form: Imperative (Lot), Third, Plural

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• दुर्योधनादयः: Duryodhana and others
• दुर्योधनादयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्योधनादि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Duryodhana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Adharma does not end in a single suffering; it tends to compound into greater misery. The verse frames the fate of Duryodhana’s party as an ethical consequence—wrong choices in life lead to escalating hardship.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Vaiśampāyana’s narration of the Ashramavāsika Parva, this statement functions as a condemnatory assessment of Duryodhana and his followers, indicating that their end is not merely tragic but morally charged—moving from suffering to still worse suffering as the aftermath of their deeds.