Shloka 206
धृतराष्ट्रस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति व्यवहार-रक्षा-नियमनोपदेशः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Instruction on Administration, Punishment, and Daily Governance
अज्ञातवासं गहन द्रौपदीशोकवर्धनम् । “तुम वह पुराना वैर, वह बारह वर्षोका वनवास और द्रौपदीके शोकको बढ़ानेवाला एक वर्षका गहन अज्ञातवास सहसा भूल कैसे गये?
ajñātavāsaṃ gahanaṃ draupadī-śoka-vardhanam |
Vaiśampāyana said: “How could you suddenly forget that perilous year of living incognito—an ordeal that intensified Draupadī’s grief—along with the old enmity and the twelve years of exile in the forest?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse stresses moral accountability through remembrance: past wrongs, vows, and hardships should not be dismissed lightly. Forgetting the long exile and the painful incognito year—especially the suffering inflicted on Draupadī—signals ethical negligence and a failure to acknowledge consequences.
The speaker (Vaiśampāyana) recalls the Pāṇḍavas’ prolonged hardships—twelve years of forest exile and the dangerous thirteenth year in disguise—highlighting how these experiences deepened Draupadī’s sorrow and were rooted in an old feud. The line functions as a pointed reminder that such history cannot be ‘suddenly forgotten’ in later reflection.