ते वयं राजवंशेन हीनाः सह सुतैर् अपि ॥
अवज्ञाता भविष्यामो लोकस्य जगतीपते ॥
सततं निरयं प्राप्ताः परपिण्डोपजीविनः ॥
न भवेम यथा राजंस् तथा शीघ्रं विधीयताम् ॥
अभविष्यः स्थिरो राज्ये यदि हि त्वं पुरा नृप ॥
ध्रुवं प्राप्स्याम च वयं राज्यम् अप्य् अवशे जने ॥
te vayaṃ rājavaṃśena hīnāḥ saha sutair api ||
avajñātā bhaviṣyāmo lokasya jagatīpate ||
satataṃ nirayaṃ prāptāḥ parapiṇḍopajīvinaḥ ||
na bhavema yathā rājaṃs tathā śīghraṃ vidhīyatām ||
abhaviṣyaḥ sthiro rājye yadi hi tvaṃ purā nṛpa ||
dhruvaṃ prāpsyāma ca vayaṃ rājyam apy avaśe jane ||
"We, deprived of the royal succession, together with our sons, shall be despised by the world, O lord of the earth -- cast down forever into a kind of hell, living on another's charity. So that we may not become such, O king, act quickly; for if you had been firmly established on the throne before, O sovereign, surely we too would have obtained the kingdom, even with an unruly people."
db84659a619f · published Jul 12, 2026, 4:53:33 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here Duryodhana completes the corruption of his father, painting for him the horror of a coming humiliation. Notice the piling up of fear: "despised," "forever in hell," "living on another's charity" -- he depicts the utmost fall in order to push his father toward decisive wrongdoing. This shows how fear of loss, inflated by the imagination, drives one toward untruth: instead of entrusting their fate to dharma and providence, Duryodhana and his father are ready to transgress in order to keep power. It is telling, too, that the accusation is thrown at the father ("had you been firm before"): the son reproaches the father for his weakness, wounding him all the more. This shows that lust for power honors neither justice nor filial respect. So scripture shows the completion of the ruinous counsel; and from this conversation, as the following chapters will show, the first plot to destroy the Pandavas will be born -- sending them away to Varanavata.