अल्पावशिष्टं दिवसं नृवीर; विघातयस्वाद्य रिपुं शरौघैः ॥
दिनक्षयं प्राप्य नरप्रवीर; ध्रुवं हि नः कर्ण जयो भविष्यति ॥
सैन्धवे रक्ष्यमाणे तु सूर्यस्यास्तमयं प्रति ॥
मिथ्याप्रतिज्ञः कौन्तेयः प्रवेक्ष्यति हुताशनम् ॥
अनर्जुनायां च भुवि मुहूर्तम् अपि मानद ॥
जीवितुं नोत्सहेरन् वै भ्रातरो ऽस्य सहानुगाः ॥
alpāvaśiṣṭaṃ divasaṃ nṛvīra; vighātayasvādya ripuṃ śaraughaiḥ ||
dinakṣayaṃ prāpya narapravīra; dhruvaṃ hi naḥ karṇa jayo bhaviṣyati ||
saindhave rakṣyamāṇe tu sūryasyāstamayaṃ prati ||
mithyāpratijñaḥ kaunteyaḥ pravekṣyati hutāśanam ||
anarjunāyāṃ ca bhuvi muhūrtam api mānada ||
jīvituṃ notsaheran vai bhrātaro 'sya sahānugāḥ ||
"Little of the day remains, O hero-among-men; destroy the foe now with floods of arrows; having reached the day's end, O foremost of men, victory, Karna, will surely be ours. But if Saindhava is kept safe until the sun's setting, then the son of Kunti, his vow proved false, shall enter the fire. And on the earth without Arjuna, not even for a moment, O giver of honor, would his brothers and their followers dare to live."
e66731eb5e1c · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:25:13 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
All of Duryodhana's hope is to outlast the day: to hold Jayadratha safe until sunset, and Arjuna's own vow will turn him to ash. It is telling that he imagines victory won not by valor but by a trick of time. The verse teaches that reliance on an enemy's failure, rather than on one's own righteousness, stands on shaky ground; one who counts not on overcoming the foe but merely on waiting for his fall by his own word builds on sand — for a man firm in his vow will find a way to keep it.