Shloka 7

Devanagari script

क्षत्रियस्य महाराज जये वृत्ति: समाहिता । स वै धर्मस्त्वधर्मो वा स्ववृत्तौ का परीक्षणा

Transliteration

kṣatriyasya mahārāja jaye vṛttiḥ samāhitā | sa vai dharmas tv adharmo vā svavṛttau kā parīkṣaṇā ||

Translation

杜尤陀那说道：“大王啊，刹帝利的全部天职都系于胜利。无论那胜利是正是邪——对自己被指定的生业之道，又何须再作审察？”

Word by Word

• क्षत्रियस्य: of a Kshatriya
• क्षत्रियस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षत्रिय
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• महाराज: O great king
• महाराज: Sambodhana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• जये: in victory / in conquest
• जये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: जय
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• वृत्तिः: conduct; occupation; way of life
• वृत्तिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृत्ति
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• समाहिता: fixed; intent; concentrated
• समाहिता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-आ-धा (समाहित)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• सः: that; he/it
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वै: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

• धर्मः: dharma; righteousness
• धर्मः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तु: but; however
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• अधर्मः: unrighteousness; adharma
• अधर्मः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अधर्म
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वा: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा

• स्ववृत्तौ: in one’s own conduct/occupation
• स्ववृत्तौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व-वृत्ति
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• का: what?
• का: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• परीक्षणा: examination; scrutiny; test
• परीक्षणा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: परीक्षणा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Duryodhana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents Duryodhana’s hardline view that a kṣatriya’s defining duty is victory and dominance, treating moral evaluation (dharma vs. adharma) as secondary or even irrelevant when pursuing one’s class-based vocation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Sabha Parva context, Duryodhana is articulating a political-royal rationale: he frames the warrior-king’s role as inherently oriented toward conquest, implying that success itself justifies action and that questioning the morality of such conduct is unnecessary.