Shloka 2
यद् द्रौपदीमेकवस्त्रां सभाया- मानाययेस्त्वं च सुयोधनश्व । दुःशासन: शकुनि: सौबलश्न नते कर्ण प्रत्यभात्तत्र धर्म:,“कर्ण! जब तुमने तथा दुर्योधन, दुःशासन और सुबलपुत्र शकुनिने एक वस्त्र धारण करनेवाली रजस्वला द्रौपदीको सभामें बुलवाया था, उस समय तुम्हारे मनमें धर्मका विचार नहीं उठा था?
sañjaya uvāca |
yad draupadīm ekavastrāṃ sabhāyām ānayayes tvaṃ ca suyodhanaś ca |
duḥśāsanaḥ śakuniḥ saubalāś ca nṛte karṇa pratyabhāt tatra dharmaḥ ||
Sañjaya sagte: «O Karṇa, als du — zusammen mit Suyodhana (Duryodhana), Duḥśāsana und Śakuni, dem Sohn Subalas — Draupadī, nur in ein einziges Gewand gehüllt, in die königliche Versammlung bringen ließest, regte sich da in dir nicht der Gedanke an Dharma?»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral accountability: participation in or approval of public injustice—especially the humiliation of an innocent—reveals a failure of dharma. It challenges Karṇa to recognize that ethical discernment must arise precisely in moments of power, anger, and group pressure.
Sañjaya recalls the infamous court scene where Draupadī was brought into the Kuru assembly in a vulnerable state. He confronts Karṇa by asking why dharma did not occur to him then, implying that the present calamities of war are rooted in that earlier adharma.