Дурьодхана
वसिष्ठ इव विप्राणां तेजसाम् इव भास्करः ॥
पितॄणाम् इव धर्मो ऽथ आदित्यानाम् इवाम्बुराट् ॥
नक्षत्राणाम् इव शशी दितिजानाम् इवोशनाः ॥
श्रेष्ठः सेनाप्रणेतॄणां स नः सेनापतिर् भव ॥
vasiṣṭha iva viprāṇāṃ tejasām iva bhāskaraḥ ||
pitṝṇām iva dharmo 'tha ādityānām ivāmburāṭ ||
nakṣatrāṇām iva śaśī ditijānām ivośanāḥ ||
śreṣṭhaḥ senāpraṇetṝṇāṃ sa naḥ senāpatir bhava ||
[Duryodhana:] You who among the vipras are like Vasishtha, among the luminaries like the sun, among the forefathers like Dharma [Yama], among the Adityas like the lord of the waters [Varuna], among the constellations like the moon, among the daityas like Ushanas [Shukra] -- be, best of commanders, our military leader.
4cc6615d88cc · published Jul 19, 2026, 2:46:26 PM UTC
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The chain of comparisons reaches its peak and ends in a direct request -- 'be our commander': all the splendor of praise was only an approach to this demand. It is telling that among the models invoked are Vasishtha, Dharma, and Varuna -- embodiments of truth and law; yet they are summoned into service of a cause opposed to law, and so the grandeur of the comparisons turns into a verdict on the one asking. The verse teaches that words about truth and law, placed in the service of untruth, do not consecrate it but expose the speaker; and that the peak of flattery -- the direct request for whose sake all the praises were piled up -- lays bare that what was honored was not virtue, but its usefulness to oneself.