Shloka 78
शकुनिर्नाम यस्त्वासीद् राजा लोके महारथ: । द्वापरं विद्धि तं राजन् सम्भूतमरिमर्दनम्,राजन्! जो इस जगत्में महारथी राजा शकुनिके नामसे विख्यात था, उसे तुम द्वापरके अंशसे उत्पन्न हुआ मानो। वह शत्रुओंका मान-मर्दन करनेवाला था
śakunir nāma yas tv āsīd rājā loke mahārathaḥ | dvāparaṃ viddhi taṃ rājan sambhūtam arimardanam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “That king in the world who was famed by the name Śakuni, a great chariot-warrior—know him, O King, to have been born from a portion of the Dvāpara age, a crusher of enemies.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links a person’s dominant disposition to a cosmic-ethical framework (yuga). By calling Śakuni ‘born of a portion of Dvāpara,’ it suggests that certain temperaments—competitive, conflict-prone, and strategically sharp—manifest strongly in that age, thereby intensifying moral tests and the need for discernment in dharma.
Vaiśampāyana is describing Śakuni’s stature and origin in typological terms: he was a renowned king and great warrior, and the narrator instructs the listener-king to regard him as an embodiment of the Dvāpara element—an enemy-crushing figure whose presence foreshadows and fuels the coming conflicts.