Shloka 163
ध्वजयष्टिं परिक्लिश्य कामुक: कामिनीं यथा । महाराज! उस बाणसे अत्यन्त घायल हुआ शकुनि, जैसे कामी पुरुष कामिनीका आलिंगन करता है, उसी प्रकार ध्वज-यष्टि (ध्वजाके डंडे)-को दोनों भुजाओंसे पकड़कर रथके पिछले भागमें बैठ गया
dhvajayaṣṭiṃ parikliśya kāmukaḥ kāminīṃ yathā | mahārāja! us bāṇase atyanta ghāyala huā śakuni, jaise kāmī puruṣa kāminīkā āliṅgana kartā hai, usī prakāra dhvaja-yaṣṭi (dhvajāke daṇḍe)-ko donoṃ bhujāoṃse pakaṛakara rathake pichale bhāgameṃ baiṭh gayā |
Sañjaya said: O King, grievously wounded by that arrow, Śakuni clutched the flagstaff with both arms and sank down into the rear of the chariot—like a lust-driven man embracing a woman. The simile underscores how, in the chaos of war, even the proud are reduced to instinctive grasping for support, revealing the body’s vulnerability and the moral ugliness that violence exposes.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights human vulnerability in war: when struck by violence, even a calculating warrior like Śakuni instinctively clings to support. The deliberately coarse simile suggests that war strips away dignity and reveals the compulsions of the body and mind, inviting ethical reflection on the degrading nature of violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Śakuni has been badly wounded by an arrow. In pain, he grips the chariot’s flagstaff with both arms and sits/collapses into the rear of the chariot for support.