Shloka 3
कालविभाग-निरूपणं तथा युद्धव्यवस्था
Time-Reckoning and Mobilization Counsel
पराभूतैर्हिं वस्तव्यं तैश्व द्वादश वत्सरान् | वने जनपदे ज्ञातैरेष एव पणो हि नः,“जूआ खेलते समय हमलोगोंकी यही शर्त थी कि हममेंसे जो हारेंगे, उन्हें बारह वर्षोतक किसी वनमें प्रकटरूपसे और एक वर्षतक किसी नगरमें अज्ञात-भावसे निवास करना पड़ेगा
parābhūtair hi vastavyaṃ taiś ca dvādaśa vatsarān | vane janapade jñātair eṣa eva paṇo hi naḥ |
قال فايشَمبايانا: «إنّ المهزومين لا بدّ أن يقيموا اثنتي عشرة سنة في الغابة، معروفين علنًا بين الناس؛ فهذا وحده كان رهاننا يوم لعبة النرد.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores accountability to agreed terms: even when an agreement arises from a flawed act like gambling, one’s integrity is tested by accepting the stated consequences and not evading the pledged condition.
The narrator recalls the specific condition set during the dice-game: the defeated party must undergo a fixed period of exile—twelve years living openly in the forest—framing the Pandavas’ subsequent hardships as the fulfillment of that wager.