Shloka 41

Devanagari script

पाण्डव मेरे पक्षके इन वीरोंकी ओर आँख उठाकर देखनेमें भी समर्थ नहीं हैं। पुत्रोंसहित पाण्डवोंके साथ मैं अकेला ही समरांगणमें युद्ध करनेकी शक्ति रखता हूँ ।। मत्प्रियं पार्थिवा: सर्वे ये चिकीर्षन्ति भारत | ते तानावारयिष्यन्ति ऐणेयानिव तन्तुना

Transliteration

matpriyaṃ pārthivāḥ sarve ye cikīrṣanti bhārata | te tān āvārayiṣyanti aiṇeyān iva tantunā ||

Translation

般度五子甚至连抬眼望向我方这些勇士都做不到。我独自一人，也有力量在战场上与般度五子及其子嗣交战。噢，婆罗多啊！凡欲取悦于我的诸王，必将阻遏般度五子，牵制他们如同以一缕细线便可拦住幼鹿一般轻易。

Word by Word

मत्प्रियम्what is dear to me / my desired (thing)

पार्थिवाःkings

सर्वेall

येwho

चिकीर्षन्तिwish to do / intend to do

भारतO Bharata

तेthem

तान्those (same) / them

आवारयिष्यन्तिwill restrain / will prevent

ऐणेयान्antelopes/deer (offspring of eṇī)

इवlike / as

तन्तुनाwith a thread

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Duryodhana

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as Bhārata)

Pāṇḍavas (implied by tān)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse illustrates how pride and the hunger for dominance can distort judgment: Duryodhana assumes that political loyalty and military numbers guarantee victory, ignoring the ethical weight of the conflict and the consequences of adharma-driven ambition.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, as war preparations intensify, Duryodhana speaks confidently to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, asserting that the allied kings devoted to him will easily check the Pāṇḍavas, comparing them to fawns restrained by a thread.