अथ दुर्योधनो राजा दृष्ट्वा हतम् अलायुधम् ॥
बभूव परमोद्विग्नः सह सैन्येन भारत ॥
तेन ह्य् अस्य प्रतिज्ञातं भीमसेनम् अहं युधि ॥
हन्तेति स्वयम् आगम्य स्मरता वैरम् उत्तमम् ॥
ध्रुवं स तेन हन्तव्य इत्य् अमन्यत पार्थिवः ॥
जीवितं चिरकालाय भ्रातॄणां चाप्य् अमन्यत ॥
स तं दृष्ट्वा विनिहतं भीमसेनात्मजेन वै ॥
प्रतिज्ञां भीमसेनस्य पूर्णाम् एवाभ्यमन्यत ॥
atha duryodhano rājā dṛṣṭvā hatam alāyudham ||
babhūva paramodvignaḥ saha sainyena bhārata ||
tena hy asya pratijñātaṃ bhīmasenam ahaṃ yudhi ||
hanteti svayam āgamya smaratā vairam uttamam ||
dhruvaṃ sa tena hantavya ity amanyata pārthivaḥ ||
jīvitaṃ cirakālāya bhrātṝṇāṃ cāpy amanyata ||
sa taṃ dṛṣṭvā vinihataṃ bhīmasenātmajena vai ||
pratijñāṃ bhīmasenasya pūrṇām evābhyamanyata ||
...before the face of Duryodhana he threw the lifeless head. Then King Duryodhana, seeing Alayudha slain, became extremely distressed together with his army, O Bharata. For Alayudha had promised: "I will kill Bhimasena in battle," having come himself, mindful of the deepest enmity. "Surely that one will be slain by him" — thus thought the king, and he supposed life for a long time, for himself and for his brothers. He, seeing him slain by the son of Bhimasena...
6167ba501750 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:58:10 PM UTC
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Duryodhana had pinned on the man-eating Alayudha his hope for Bhima's death and long life for himself and his brothers — and that hope collapsed with the rakshasa's head thrown at his feet. It is telling that trust placed in evil turns into redoubled grief. The verse teaches that hope entrusted to evil is deceptive and fragile; and one who builds his salvation on another's savagery reaps not deliverance but despair — for a ruinous means does not save the one who relies on it, but destroys him.