Shloka 26
अर्जुनदुःखहेतुप्रश्नः — Inquiry into the cause of Arjuna’s recurring hardship
Book 14, Chapter 89
कलाभिस्तिसूभी राजन् यथाविधि मनस्विनीम् । राजन! तत्पश्चात् याजकोंने विधिपूर्वक अश्वका श्रपण करके उसके समीप मन्त्र, द्रव्य और श्रद्धा--इन तीन कलाओंसे युक्त मनस्विनी द्रौपदीको शास्त्रोक्त विधिके अनुसार बैठाया,अनन्तरं द्विजातिभ्य: क्षत्रिया जह्ििरे वसु । तथा विट्शूद्रसंघाश्व तथान्ये म्लेच्छजातय:
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: kalābhis tisṛbhir rājan yathāvidhi manasvinīm | rājan tatpaścāt yājakāḥ vidhipūrvakam aśvakaṃ śrapaṇaṃ kṛtvā tasya samīpe mantra-dravya-śraddhā—etābhiḥ tisṛbhiḥ kalābhiḥ yuktāṃ manasvinīṃ draupadīṃ śāstroktavidhinā upaveśayām āsuḥ | anantaraṃ dvijātibhyaḥ kṣatriyā jahṛire vasu | tathā viṭ-śūdra-saṅghāś ca tathānye mleccha-jātayaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O king, in due form the resolute Draupadī was set in place, endowed with the three ‘arts’—mantra, proper offerings, and faith. Thereafter the officiating priests, having duly cooked the sacrificial portions of the horse and arranging everything near it according to scriptural rule, seated the high-minded Draupadī as prescribed. Then wealth was distributed: the Kṣatriyas received gifts after the twice-born, and likewise groups of Vaiśyas and Śūdras, and also other communities regarded as mleccha by birth.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds ritual integrity and ethical giving: sacred action is to be performed ‘yathāvidhi’ (as prescribed) with mantra, proper materials, and śraddhā (sincere faith), and the rite culminates in dāna—distribution of wealth—signaling that royal power is ethically completed through generosity and ordered responsibility.
During the Aśvamedha proceedings, the priests complete the prescribed cooking of the horse’s sacrificial portions and formally seat Draupadī near the rite with the three ritual constituents (mantra, offerings, faith). Afterward, gifts/wealth are distributed in a socially ordered sequence: first to the twice-born, then to Kṣatriyas, and also to groups of Vaiśyas, Śūdras, and other communities described as mleccha.