Did Duryodhana ever express that what he did was Adharma, and if so, how didhe justify hi

Dhuryodhana, like most people of today, justified his actions, by his mind. He was a classic demon, who cares nothing for dharma in his mad rush for political power and prestige.

One thing, though, should be said in Duryodhana’s favor. When he ruled the world, after having snatched up the post of King, unlawfully, from his cousin Yudhisthira, he ruled well, and the citizens in his kingdom, which at that time was the whole world, were properly taken care of.

The fact that he was a well-liked, righteous king was shown at the time of the battle. Kings from all over the world, and their their armies, came to support either him or Yudhisthira, and by far more kings were in support of Dhuryodhana. He managed to amass an army that was far greater than those who came to Yudhisthira’s aid.

Of course, in those days there was no internet, so the kingdoms in Europe and other far away places, were hardly informed of the power-struggles going on in Delhi. They didn’t know of the atrocities Dhuryodhana had been willing to perform in order to secure his position as emperor of the world.

So his administration governed the world well, at the time.

Those in the know, however, the people around Dhuryodhana, and in particular his opponents like the Pandavas, knew what a demon he was.

Even Yudhisthira, the rightful heir to the kingdom, was such a humble guy that he didn’t want a war. He declared he would be satisfied if Dhuryodhana would give the Pandavas even 5 towns to rule. But Dhuryodhana was such an envious, nasty demon that he refused to concede to even that.

That’s when he uttered the famous words - I won’t give the Pandavas a piece of land, in which it’s possible to drive even a sword.

His hatred for the Pandavas was so intense that it blinded him completely to dharma. He was bereft of any decency, or even common sense.

And that’s why Krishna wanted him removed and replaced by Yudhisthira.

Of course, it was all part of God’s plan to remove the great military forces that had amassed on planet earth at the time. Mother Bhumi had approached him in great frustration, saying she couldn’t bear all the demonic forces that were crawling all over her like flies. So Krishna calmed her, saying - don’t worry, I’ll arrange to have them removed.

That’s what God does - He arranges for demons to finish each-other off. He can’t even be bothered to do it Himself. So He arranged for 600 million soldiers from all over the world to meet in a battle and slaughter each-other to the last man.

Only 8 people survived the battle of Kurukshetra (besides Krishna, of course) - the Pandavas, Kritavarman, Satyaki, and the son of Drona, Asvatthama.

So Dhuryodhana was a classic demon, whose mission, even though he didn’t know it himself, was to rid the world of demons.

Krishna says:

Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works meant to destroy the world. (Bg. 16.9)

Taking shelter of insatiable lust and absorbed in the conceit of pride and false prestige, the demoniac, thus illusioned, are always sworn to unclean work, attracted by the impermanent. (Bg. 16.10)

They believe that to gratify the senses is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus until the end of life their anxiety is immeasurable. Bound by a network of hundreds of thousands of desires and absorbed in lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification. (Bg. 16.11-12)

The demoniac person thinks: "So much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more. He is my enemy, and I have killed him, and my other enemies will also be killed. I am the lord of everything. I am the enjoyer. I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none so powerful and happy as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice." In this way, such persons are deluded by ignorance. (Bg. 16. 13-15)

Srila Prabhupada explains:

The demoniac man knows no limit to his desire to acquire money. That is unlimited. He thinks only of how much assessment he has just now and schemes to engage that stock of wealth further and further.

For that reason, he does not hesitate to act in any sinful way and so deals in the black market for illegal gratification. He is enamored by the possessions he has already, such as land, family, house and bank balance, and he is always planning to improve them.

He believes in his own strength, and he does not know that whatever he is gaining is due to his past good deeds. He is given an opportunity to accumulate such things, but he has no conception of past causes. He simply thinks that all his mass of wealth is due to his own endeavor.

A demoniac person believes in the strength of his personal work, not in the law of karma. According to the law of karma, a man takes his birth in a high family, or becomes rich, or very well educated, or very beautiful because of good work in the past. The demoniac think that all these things are accidental and due to the strength of one's personal ability.

They do not sense any arrangement behind all the varieties of people, beauty and education. Anyone who comes into competition with such a demoniac man is his enemy. There are many demoniac people, and each is enemy to the others.

This enmity becomes more and more deep -- between persons, then between families, then between societies, and at last between nations. Therefore there is constant strife, war and enmity all over the world.

Each demoniac person thinks that he can live at the sacrifice of all others. Generally, a demoniac person thinks of himself as the Supreme God, and a demoniac preacher tells his followers: "Why are you seeking God elsewhere? You are all yourselves God! Whatever you like, you can do. Don't believe in God. Throw away God. God is dead." These are the demoniac's preachings.

Although the demoniac person sees others equally rich and influential, or even more so, he thinks that no one is richer than he and that no one is more influential than he. As far as promotion to the higher planetary system is concerned, he does not believe in performing yajnas, or sacrifices.

Demons think that they will manufacture their own process of yajna and prepare some machine by which they will be able to reach any higher planet. The best example of such a demoniac man was Ravana.

He offered a program to the people by which he would prepare a staircase so that anyone could reach the heavenly planets without performing sacrifices, such as are prescribed in the Vedas.

Similarly, in the present age such demoniac men are striving to reach the higher planetary systems by mechanical arrangements. These are examples of bewilderment. The result is that, without their knowledge, they are gliding toward hell. Here the Sanskrit word moha-jala is very significant. Jala means "net"; like fish caught in a net, they have no way to come out.