Mahabharata — Udyoga Parva, Shloka 50

उद्योगपर्व — गान्धारी-उपदेशः

Udyoga Parva — Gandhārī’s Counsel to Duryodhana

Devanagari script

राजन्‌ दुर्योधन बद्ध्वा ततः संशाम्य पाण्डवै: । त्वत्कृते न विनश्येयु: क्षत्रिया: क्षत्रियर्षभ

Transliteration

rājan duryodhanaṁ baddhvā tataḥ saṁśāmya pāṇḍavaiḥ | tvatkṛte na vinaśyeyuḥ kṣatriyāḥ kṣatriyarṣabha ||

Translation

毗舍波耶那说道：“大王啊，先擒住都利约陀那，然后与般度族缔结和议。噫，刹帝利中的雄牛！愿莫因汝之故，使刹帝利诸军尽遭覆灭。”

Word by Word

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• दुर्योधनम्: Duryodhana
• दुर्योधनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्योधन
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• बद्ध्वा: having bound/captured
• Type: Verb
• Root: बन्ध्
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• ततः: then/thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• संशाम्य: having made peace/appeased (having concluded a settlement)
• Type: Verb
• Root: शम् (सम् + शम्)
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• पाण्डवैः: with/by the Pāṇḍavas
• पाण्डवैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• त्वत्कृते: because of you/for your sake
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: त्वत् + कृत
• Form: genitive-tatpurusha used adverbially, for your sake/because of you

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• विनश्येयुः: might perish
• Type: Verb
• Root: नश् (वि + नश्)
• Form: Vidhi-linga (optative), Present-system, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• क्षत्रियाः: kṣatriyas/warriors
• क्षत्रियाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षत्रिय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• क्षत्रियर्षभ: O bull among kṣatriyas (best of warriors)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षत्रिय + ऋषभ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Duryodhana
• Pāṇḍavas
• the King (addressed as rājan)
• Kṣatriyas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler must prioritize restraint and reconciliation over pride and factional loyalty; preventing large-scale loss of life is a primary ethical duty, and personal attachment must not become the cause of a whole class’s destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker urges the king to arrest Duryodhana and conclude a settlement with the Pāṇḍavas, warning that otherwise the impending conflict may annihilate the kṣatriya warriors, with the king bearing moral responsibility for the outcome.