Shloka 27
Kubera’s Arrival and the Disclosure of Agastya’s Curse
Vaiśaṃpāyana–Janamejaya Narrative
विषमेतत् समालोड्य कुम्भेन प्राशितं त्वया । ततो युधिष्िरस्तस्य गुरुक: समपद्यत,'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
viṣam etat samāloḍya kumbhena prāśitaṃ tvayā | tato yudhiṣṭhiras tasya gurukaḥ samapadyata ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “You have churned up a deadly poison and drunk it from a jar. Therefore Yudhiṣṭhira became a crushing weight upon him—overpowering him with stern, dharma-grounded words: ‘In such a condition you are fit only for a futile death, and today your life will be wasted. If your mind has truly sunk into wickedness and you have abandoned all dharma, then give us our weapons, fight us, and if you win, take Draupadī away. But if, out of ignorance, you commit this betrayal and abduction, you will gain only unrighteousness and ill-fame in the world. Night-ranger! By touching the wife of men you have committed a sin—this is a terrible poison you have mixed and swallowed.’”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames violation of another’s wife and betrayal/abduction as a self-destructive act: sin is likened to poison one mixes and drinks oneself. It also asserts a dharma-based ethic of conflict—if one insists on taking Draupadī, it must be through open combat, not deceit—otherwise the result is adharma and lasting infamy.
After a niśācara (rākṣasa-like adversary) has committed an outrage involving Draupadī, Yudhiṣṭhira rebukes him severely. Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates that Yudhiṣṭhira’s words become ‘heavy’ upon the offender, warning him that his act is like drinking poison and that only righteous battle—not treachery—could even be claimed as a path to victory.