Дурьодхана
मम लुब्धस्य पापस्य तथा धर्मापचायिनः ॥
व्यायच्छन्तो जिगीषन्तः प्राप्ता वैवस्वतक्षयम् ॥
कथं पतितवृत्तस्य पृथिवी सुहृदां द्रुहः ॥
विवरं नाशकद् दातुं मम पार्थिवसंसदि ॥
सो ऽहं रुधिरसिक्ताङ्गं राज्ञां मध्ये पितामहम् ॥
शयानं नाशकं त्रातुं भीष्मम् आयोधने हतम् ॥
mama lubdhasya pāpasya tathā dharmāpacāyinaḥ ||
vyāyacchanto jigīṣantaḥ prāptā vaivasvatakṣayam ||
kathaṃ patitavṛttasya pṛthivī suhṛdāṃ druhaḥ ||
vivaraṃ nāśakad dātuṃ mama pārthivasaṃsadi ||
so 'haṃ rudhirasiktāṅgaṃ rājñāṃ madhye pitāmaham ||
śayānaṃ nāśakaṃ trātuṃ bhīṣmam āyodhane hatam ||
'For my sake — greedy, sinful, one who tramples dharma — striving and thirsting for victory, they reached the abode of Vaivasvata [Yama]. How is it that the earth could not open a fissure to swallow me, fallen in conduct, betrayer of friends, in the assembly of kings? Here I am — I who could not save my grandfather, his body drenched in blood, lying among the kings — Bhishma, slain in battle.'
2b4e3e160e78 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:31:38 PM UTC
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Duryodhana longs for the earth to swallow him from shame: guilt weighs on him unbearably. It is telling that he calls himself a "trampler of dharma" and a "betrayer of friends" — an almost complete self-condemnation. And yet it produces no repentance for the war itself. The verse teaches that even sharp awareness of guilt is fruitless without a change of will; and one who curses himself yet does not turn from his ruinous path only multiplies the very guilt he mourns.