Shloka 10
पुनर्द्यूत-समाह्वानम्
Renewed Summons to the Dice-Game and Exile Wager
कस्येशो न: पराजैषीरिति त्वामाह द्रौपदी । कि नु पूर्व पराजैषीरात्मानमथवापि माम्,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! प्रातिकामीने सभामें जाकर राजाओंके बीचमें बैठे हुए युधिष्ठिरसे द्रौधदीकी वह बात कह सुनायी। उसने कहा--'द्रौपदी आपसे पूछना चाहती है कि किस-किस वस्तुके स्वामी रहते हुए आप मुझे हारे हैं? आप पहले अपनेको हारे हैं या मुझे?”
vaiśampāyana uvāca | kasyaiśo naḥ parājaiṣīr iti tvām āha draupadī | ki nu pūrvaṃ parājaiṣīr ātmānam athavāpi mām |
Vaiśampāyana said: Draupadī asks you this: “While being lord of what did you lose me? Tell me—did you first lose yourself, or did you also lose me?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Draupadī’s challenge highlights a dharma-based critique of ownership and authority: if a person has already lost his own autonomy, he cannot ethically (and arguably legally) stake another person. The verse foregrounds responsibility, consent, and the limits of a husband’s power.
In the dice-hall episode, Draupadī sends a pointed question to be conveyed to Yudhiṣṭhira: under what rightful lordship did he wager her, and whether he first lost himself or her. This sets up the broader debate among elders about the legitimacy of the wager and the injustice done to her.