Shloka 22
Draupadī’s Rebuke of Jayadratha and Dhaumya’s Admonition (Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 252)
पातालवासिनो रौद्रा: पूर्व देवैविनिर्जिता: । ते स्वपक्षक्षयं त॑ तु ज्ञात्वा दुर्योधनस्य वै
vaiśampāyana uvāca | pātālavāsino raudrāḥ pūrvaṃ devair vinirjitāḥ | te svapakṣakṣayaṃ tu jñātvā duryodhanasya vai |
Vaiśaṃpāyana sprach: Die grimmigen Wesen, die in Pātāla wohnten—einst von den Göttern besiegt—erkannten, dass Duryodhanas nahende Vernichtung auch den Untergang ihrer eigenen Partei bedeuten würde. Dies einsehend, beschlossen sie zu handeln, damit ihre Sache nicht mit ihm zusammenstürze.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how attachment to factional victory can drive beings toward strategic intervention, even when their past defeat and moral standing are questionable; it frames political loyalty as a motive that can override ethical restraint.
Netherworld-dwellers, previously defeated by the gods, realize that Duryodhana’s downfall would also destroy their own cause; they therefore decide to take steps to prevent their side from collapsing with him.