Duryodhan's Speech
Silent sat the proud Duryodhan, wrathful in the council hall,Spake to mighty-armed Krishna and to Kuru warriors all:
"Ill becomes thee, Dwarka's chieftain, in the paths of sin to move,Bear for me a secret hatred, for the Pandavs secret love!
And my father, wise Vidura, ancient Bhishma, Drona bold,Join thee in this bitter hatred, turn on me their glances cold!
What great crime or darkening sorrow shadows o'er my bitter fate,That ye chiefs and Kuru's monarch mark Duryodhan for your hate?
Speak, what nameless guilt or folly, secret sin to me unknown,Turns from me your sweet affection, father's love that was my own?
If Yudhishthir, fond of gambling, played a heedless, reckless game,Lost his empire and his freedom, was it then Duryodhan's blame?
And if freed from shame and bondage in his folly played again,Lost again and went to exile, wherefore doth he now complain?
Weak are they in friends and forces, feeble is their fitful star,Wherefore then in pride and folly seek with us unequal war?
Shall we, who to mighty INDRA scarce will do the homage due,Bow to homeless sons of Pandu and their comrades faint and few?
Bow to them while warlike Drona leads us as in days of old,Bhishma greater than the bright-gods, archer Karna true and bold?
If in dubious game of battle we should forfeit fame and life,Heaven will ope its golden portals for the Kshatra slain in strife!
If unbending to our foemen we should press the gory plain,Stingless is the bed of arrows, death for us will have no pain!
For the Kshatra knows no terror of his foeman in the field,Breaks like hardened forest timber, bonds not, knows not how to yield!
So the ancient sage Matanga of the warlike Kshatra said,Save to priest and sage preceptor unto none he bends his head!
Indra-prastha which my father weakly to Yudhishthir gave,Nevermore shall go unto him while I live and brothers brave!
Kuru's undivided kingdom Dhrita-rashtra rules alone,Let us sheathe our swords in friendship and the monarch's empire own!
If in past in thoughtless folly once the realm was broke in twain,Kuru-land is re-united, never shall be split again!
Take my message to my kinsmen, for Duryodhan's words are plain,Portion of the Kuru empire sons of Pandu seek in vain!
Town nor village, mart nor hamlet, help us righteous gods in heaven,Spot that needle's point can cover not unto them be given!"
Words in this poem 19
- wrathful a.
- Full of wrath; very angry; greatly incensed; ireful; passionate; as, a wrathful man.
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- fitful a.
- Full of fits; irregularly variable; impulsive and unstable. [From 7th Fit.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- homeless a.
- Destitute of a home. [AS.hamleas.]
- dubious a.
- Doubtful or not settled in opinion; being in doubt; wavering or fluctuating; undetermined. [L. dubius, dubiosus, fr. duo two. See Two, and cf. Doubt.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- unbending a.
- Not bending; not suffering flexure; not yielding to pressure; stiff; -- applied to material things. [In senses 1, 2, and 3, pref. un- not + bending; in sense 4, properly p. pr. unbend.]
- gory a.
- Covered with gore or clotted blood. [From Gore.]
- stingless a.
- Having no sting.
- foeman n.
- An enemy in war. [AS. fhman.]
- preceptor n.
- One who gives commands, or makes rules; specifically, the master or principal of a school; a teacher; an instructor. [L. praeceptor, fr. praecipere to teach: cf. F. précepteur. See Precept.]
- nevermore adv.
- Never again; at no time hereafter. Testament of Love. Tyndale.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- mart v. t.
- To buy or sell in, or as in, a mart.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Duryodhan's Speech is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Mahabharata (condensed), Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, the Romesh Chunder Dutt translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Vyasa, Duryodhan's Speech, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/duryodhan-s-speech.html, id L15805.
Form and metre
Duryodhan's Speech is 38 lines in 19 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 89% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic octameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AA hallA · allA
- 2 AA moveA · loveA
- 3 AA boldA · coldA
- 4 AA fateA · hateA
- 5 AA unknownA · ownA
- 6 AA gameA · blameA
- 7 AA againA · complainA
- 9 AA dueA · fewA
- 10 AA oldA · boldA
- 11 AA lifeA · strifeA
- 12 AA plainA · painA
- 13 AA fieldA · yieldA
- 14 AA saidA · headA
- 15 AA gaveA · braveA
- 16 AA aloneA · ownA
- 17 AA twainA · againA
- 18 AA plainA · vainA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Silent sat the proud Duryodhan, wrathful in the council hall, | 15 | /˘······/˘··/˘· |
| Spake to mighty-armed Krishna and to Kuru warriors all: | 15 | ··/˘·/˘····/˘˘· |
| "Ill becomes thee, Dwarka's chieftain, in the paths of sin to move, | 15 | ·˘/···/˘······· |
| Bear for me a secret hatred, for the Pandavs secret love! | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| And my father, wise Vidura, ancient Bhishma, Drona bold, | 15 | ··/˘····/˘····· |
| Join thee in this bitter hatred, turn on me their glances cold! | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| What great crime or darkening sorrow shadows o'er my bitter fate, | 15 | ····/˘/˘/···/˘· |
| That ye chiefs and Kuru's monarch mark Duryodhan for your hate? | 15 | ······/········ |
| Speak, what nameless guilt or folly, secret sin to me unknown, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Turns from me your sweet affection, father's love that was my own? | 15 | ·····˘/˘/˘····· |
| If Yudhishthir, fond of gambling, played a heedless, reckless game, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Lost his empire and his freedom, was it then Duryodhan's blame? | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| And if freed from shame and bondage in his folly played again, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Lost again and went to exile, wherefore doth he now complain? | 15 | ·˘/···/·/˘···˘/ |
| Weak are they in friends and forces, feeble is their fitful star, | 15 | ······/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Wherefore then in pride and folly seek with us unequal war? | 15 | /˘····/˘···˘/˘· |
| Shall we, who to mighty INDRA scarce will do the homage due, | 15 | ····/˘······/˘· |
| Bow to homeless sons of Pandu and their comrades faint and few? | 15 | ··/˘······/···· |
| Bow to them while warlike Drona leads us as in days of old, | 15 | ····/·········· |
| Bhishma greater than the bright-gods, archer Karna true and bold? | 15 | ··/˘····/˘····· |
| If in dubious game of battle we should forfeit fame and life, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| Heaven will ope its golden portals for the Kshatra slain in strife! | 15 | /···/˘/˘······· |
| If unbending to our foemen we should press the gory plain, | 15 | ··/˘·/······/˘· |
| Stingless is the bed of arrows, death for us will have no pain! | 15 | /˘····/˘······· |
| For the Kshatra knows no terror of his foeman in the field, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Breaks like hardened forest timber, bonds not, knows not how to yield! | 15 | ··/˘/˘/˘······· |
| So the ancient sage Matanga of the warlike Kshatra said, | 15 | ··/˘······/···· |
| Save to priest and sage preceptor unto none he bends his head! | 15 | ·····˘/˘······· |
| Indra-prastha which my father weakly to Yudhishthir gave, | 15 | ······/˘/˘····· |
| Nevermore shall go unto him while I live and brothers brave! | 15 | /˘··········/˘· |
| Kuru's undivided kingdom Dhrita-rashtra rules alone, | 15 | ···˘/˘/˘·····˘/ |
| Let us sheathe our swords in friendship and the monarch's empire own! | 15 | ···/··/˘··/·/˘· |
| If in past in thoughtless folly once the realm was broke in twain, | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
| Kuru-land is re-united, never shall be split again! | 15 | ·····˘/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Take my message to my kinsmen, for Duryodhan's words are plain, | 15 | ··/˘··········· |
| Portion of the Kuru empire sons of Pandu seek in vain! | 15 | /˘····/˘······· |
| Town nor village, mart nor hamlet, help us righteous gods in heaven, | 16 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Spot that needle's point can cover not unto them be given!" | 15 | ··/˘··/˘·····/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.