तेन दैवं परं मन्ये पौरुषं तु निरर्थकम् ॥
धार्तराष्ट्रा हि हीयन्ते पार्था वर्धन्ति नित्यशः ॥
सो ऽहं श्रियं च तां दृष्ट्वा सभां तां च तथाविधाम् ॥
रक्षिभिश् चावहासं तं परितप्ये यथाग्निना ॥
स माम् अभ्यनुजानीहि मातुलाद्य सुदुःखितम् ॥
अमर्षं च समाविष्टं धृतराष्ट्रे निवेदय ॥
tena daivaṃ paraṃ manye pauruṣaṃ tu nirarthakam ||
dhārtarāṣṭrā hi hīyante pārthā vardhanti nityaśaḥ ||
so 'haṃ śriyaṃ ca tāṃ dṛṣṭvā sabhāṃ tāṃ ca tathāvidhām ||
rakṣibhiś cāvahāsaṃ taṃ paritapye yathāgninā ||
sa mām abhyanujānīhi mātulādya suduḥkhitam ||
amarṣaṃ ca samāviṣṭaṃ dhṛtarāṣṭre nivedaya ||
"Therefore I consider fate supreme, and manly effort useless: for the Dhartarashtras diminish, while the Parthas ever grow. And now, having seen that splendor, that hall of such magnificence, and that mockery of the guards, I burn as though from fire. Grant me leave, then, O uncle, now deeply grieved, and tell Dhritarashtra of the envy that has seized me."
a5c50b4e17cb · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:49:22 PM UTC
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Duryodhana invokes fate — "fate I consider supreme" — not in humility but as an excuse: if destiny is against him, then any means becomes permissible. It is telling, this false piety: the name of fate covers a resolve to commit any evil. The verse teaches us to distinguish two ways of appealing to providence — the humble one, which accepts the will from above, and the deceitful one, which blames fate in order to free its own hands. And "the mockery of the guards" stings him most sharply of all: wounded pride is the root from which the dicing hall and the war will grow. Whoever, invoking fate, does not humble himself but hardens instead, slanders providence; for fate does not command wrongdoing — it is the will, cloaked in fate's name, that does the wrong.