दौःशासनिर् अथोत्थाय कुरूणां कीर्तिवर्धनः ॥
प्रोत्तिष्ठमानं सौभद्रं गदया मूर्ध्न्य् अताडयत् ॥
गदावेगेन महता व्यायामेन च मोहितः ॥
विचेता न्यपतद् भूमौ सौभद्रः परवीरहा ॥
एवं विनिहतो राजन्न् एको बहुभिर् आहवे ॥
dauḥśāsanir athotthāya kurūṇāṃ kīrtivardhanaḥ ||
prottiṣṭhamānaṃ saubhadraṃ gadayā mūrdhny atāḍayat ||
gadāvegena mahatā vyāyāmena ca mohitaḥ ||
vicetā nyapatad bhūmau saubhadraḥ paravīrahā ||
evaṃ vinihato rājann eko bahubhir āhave ||
Then the son of Duhshasana, having risen — augmenter of the Kurus' fame — struck the son of Subhadra, still rising, with his mace upon the crown of the head. Dazed by the great force of the mace's blow and by his own battle-weariness, Saubhadra, slayer of enemy heroes, fell senseless to the ground.
3a4028420082 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:04 PM UTC
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"Kurūṇām kīrtivardhanaḥ", "augmenter of the Kurus' fame", sounds here with bitter irony: all this "glory" was won by rising a moment sooner and striking the crown of one still getting up. The verse honestly names two causes of the boy's fall — "gadāvegena… vyāyāmena ca": the enemy's blow and his own exhaustion from an unbearable fight against many. It was not strength that overcame him, but the accumulated weariness of his own feat. Here the verse teaches that an unrighteous victory does not augment glory but only lays bare its absence.