वृतः सहस्रैर् दशभिर् गजानाम् अनिवर्तिनाम् ॥
रथैश् च दशसाहस्रैर् वृतो याहि धनंजयम् ॥
दुःशासनो दुर्विषहः सुबाहुर् दुष्प्रधर्षणः ॥
एते त्वाम् अनुयास्यन्ति पत्तिभिर् बहुभिर् वृताः ॥
जहि कृष्णौ महाबाहो धर्मराजं च मातुल ॥
नकुलं सहदेवं च भीमसेनं च भारत ॥
देवानाम् इव देवेन्द्रे जयाशा मे त्वयि स्थिता ॥
जहि मातुल कौन्तेयान् असुरान् इव पावकिः ॥
vṛtaḥ sahasrair daśabhir gajānām anivartinām ||
rathaiś ca daśasāhasrair vṛto yāhi dhanaṃjayam ||
duḥśāsano durviṣahaḥ subāhur duṣpradharṣaṇaḥ ||
ete tvām anuyāsyanti pattibhir bahubhir vṛtāḥ ||
jahi kṛṣṇau mahābāho dharmarājaṃ ca mātula ||
nakulaṃ sahadevaṃ ca bhīmasenaṃ ca bhārata ||
devānām iva devendre jayāśā me tvayi sthitā ||
jahi mātula kaunteyān asurān iva pāvakiḥ ||
"Surrounded by ten thousand unyielding elephants and ten thousand chariots, surrounded, go against Dhananjaya [Arjuna]. Duhshasana, Durvishaha, Subahu, Dushpradharshana — these will follow after you, surrounded by much infantry. Slay the two Krishnas, O mighty-armed one, and Dharmaraja, O uncle, Nakula and Sahadeva, and Bhimasena, O Bharata. As with the gods — upon the lord of the gods — [so] my hope for victory rests upon you; slay, O uncle, the sons of Kunti, as the Asuras [were slain] by the Son of Fire [Skanda]."
1100233ca639 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:49:34 PM UTC
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Duryodhana places all his hopes on Shakuni — the very one whose deceit had set the war in motion: hope resting on the instigator of evil. It is telling that the plea is dressed in divine comparisons — Skanda, Indra — as though holiness could sanctify an unjust deed. The verse teaches that a hope placed in the source of evil is doomed: whoever entrusts victory to deceit builds on sand; and no splendid likeness to the gods can consecrate a hope fed from an impure root.