Shloka 25
Kubera’s Arrival and the Disclosure of Agastya’s Curse
Vaiśaṃpāyana–Janamejaya Narrative
प्रदाय शस्त्राण्यस्माकं युद्धेन द्रौपदी हर । अथ चेत् त्वमविज्ञानादिदं कर्म करिष्यसि,'ऐसी दशामें तू व्यर्थ मृत्युका ही अधिकारी है और आज व्यर्थ ही तुम्हारे प्राण नष्ट हो जायँगे। यदि तेरी बुद्धि दुष्टतापर ही उतर आयी है और तू सम्पूर्ण धर्मोको भी छोड़ बैठा है, तो हमें हमारे अस्त्र देकर युद्ध कर तथा उसमें विजयी होनेपर द्रौपदीको ले जा। यदि तू अज्ञानवश यह विश्वासघात या अपहरण कर्म करेगा, तो संसारमें तुझे केवल अधर्म और अकीर्ति ही प्राप्त होगी। निशाचर! आज तूने इस मानवजातिकी स्त्रीका स्पर्श करके जो पाप किया है, यह भयंकर विष है, जिसे तूने घड़ेमें घोलकर पी लिया है।' इतना कहकर युधिष्ठिर उसके लिये बहुत भारी हो गये
pradāya śastrāṇy asmākaṁ yuddhena draupadīṁ hara | atha cet tvam avijñānād idaṁ karma kariṣyasi, vṛthā mṛtyum evādhikārī bhavasi adya ca vṛthā tava prāṇā naśyanti | yadi te buddhir duṣṭatāyām eva avatīrṇā sarvān dharmān api parityaktavān asi, tarhi asmabhyaṁ śastrāṇi pradāya yuddhasva, jitvā ca draupadīṁ hara | yadi tvam ajñānād idaṁ viśvāsaghāta-apaharaṇa-karma kariṣyasi, loke tvāṁ kevalam adharmaś ca akīrtiś ca prāpsyataḥ | niśācara! adya tvayā manuṣyajātiyāḥ striyāḥ sparśena yat pāpaṁ kṛtaṁ, tad ghoraṁ viṣam iva, yat tvayā ghaṭe ghōlitvā pītam | iti uktvā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ tasya prati mahān abhavat ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Return our weapons and win Draupadī by battle. If, out of ignorance, you persist in this deed, you become fit only for a futile death, and today your life will be wasted. If your mind has sunk into wickedness and you have abandoned all dharma, then give us back our arms, fight, and—if you can win—take Draupadī. But if, through delusion, you commit this act of betrayal and abduction, you will gain only unrighteousness and infamy in the world. Night-ranger! By laying hands today upon a woman of humankind, you have incurred a sin like a terrible poison—one you have mixed in a jar and drunk.” Having spoken thus, Yudhiṣṭhira became a heavy, overpowering presence to him.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when wronged, the ethical demand is clarity and fairness: if one seeks Draupadī, it must be through open combat after returning the stolen weapons, not through betrayal or abduction. Violating trust and touching a protected woman is framed as adharma that yields only disgrace and self-destruction.
A night-wandering rākṣasa has seized Draupadī and disarmed the Pāṇḍavas. Yudhiṣṭhira rebukes him: return the weapons and fight properly; otherwise the rākṣasa’s act will bring only futile death, infamy, and the moral ‘poison’ of sin.