Shloka 456
रात्रौ युद्धप्रवृत्तिः — Night Battle Begins; Duryodhana’s Protective Orders for Droṇa
Droṇa-parva 139
पतिमन्यं वृणीष्वेति तस्येदं फलमागतम् । द्यूतके समय कर्णके साथ आपके मन्दमति पुत्र दुर्बुद्धि दुर्योधनने पांचालराजकुमारी द्रौपदीको सभामें बुलाकर उसके प्रति जो दुर्वचन कहा था तथा प्रजानाथ! महाराज! पाण्डवों और आपके सामने समस्त कौरवोंके सुनते हुए कर्णने सभामें द्रौपदीके प्रति जो यह कठोर वचन कहा था कि “कृष्णे! पाण्डव नष्ट हो गये। सदाके लिये नरकमें पड़ गये। तू दूसरा पति कर ले", उसी अन्यायका आज यह फल प्राप्त हुआ है
patim anyaṁ vṛṇīṣveti tasyedaṁ phalam āgatam | dyūtake samaye karṇena saha āpake mandamati putra durbuddhi duryodhanena pāñcālarājakumārī draupadī sabhāṁ nītvā tasyai prati yad durvacanaṁ uktaṁ tathā prajānātha mahārāja pāṇḍavaiś ca tvayā ca samakṣaṁ sarvakauravaśravaṇe karṇena sabhāyāṁ draupadīṁ prati yat kaṭhoraṁ vacanaṁ uktaṁ—“kṛṣṇe! pāṇḍavā naṣṭāḥ, sadā-kṛte narake patitāḥ; tvaṁ dvitīyaṁ patiṁ kuru”—tasyaiva anyāyasya adya idaṁ phalaṁ prāptam iti |
Sanjaya said: “This is the fruit that has now come of that wrong. At the time of the dice-game, your foolish son, the evil-minded Duryodhana, brought Draupadi, the princess of the Panchalas, into the assembly and spoke abusive words to her; and in the presence of the Pandavas and of you, O lord of the people, O king—while all the Kauravas listened—Karna too spoke harshly to Draupadi in the hall: ‘O Krishna (Draupadi)! The Pandavas are destroyed, fallen forever into hell; choose another husband.’ The consequence of that injustice has today returned upon them.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unjust humiliation and cruel speech—especially against the vulnerable—are adharma and inevitably bear consequences. The verse frames present suffering as the karmic ‘fruit’ of earlier wrongdoing in the dice-hall, emphasizing ethical accountability for words and actions.
Sanjaya reminds Dhritarashtra of the dice-hall episode: Duryodhana summoned Draupadi and insulted her, and Karna added the harsh command that she should take another husband because the Pandavas were ‘lost.’ He then states that the calamity unfolding now is the result of that earlier injustice.