Shloka 6
Śakuni–Duryodhana-saṃvāda: Dyūta-yojanā (Śakuni and Duryodhana on Planning the Dice-Game)
शिशुपाल उवाच द्विषतां नोअस्तु भीष्मैष प्रभाव: केशवस्थ यः । यस्य संस्तववक्ता त्वं वन्दिवत् सततोत्थित:
śiśupāla uvāca | dviṣatāṁ no 'stu bhīṣma eṣa prabhāvaḥ keśavastha yaḥ | yasya saṁstavavaktā tvaṁ vandivat satatotthitaḥ ||
Śiśupāla sprach: „O Bhīṣma, möge jener ‚Ruhm‘ Kṛṣṇas—für den du stets aufrecht und wachsam stehst und ihn wie ein Hofbarde unablässig preist—nur bei unseren Feinden bleiben, nicht bei uns.“
शिशुपाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how envy and factionalism can twist one’s perception of virtue: Shishupala treats Krishna’s excellence as a partisan asset and mocks Bhishma’s reverent discernment, showing how ethical judgment collapses when driven by hostility rather than dharma.
In the Sabha Parva setting (during the royal assembly connected with Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rājasūya), Shishupala publicly attacks Krishna and derides Bhishma for continually praising him, framing Krishna’s ‘prabhāva’ as something that should belong only to Shishupala’s enemies.