Shloka 54
पुनर्द्यूत-समाह्वानम्
Renewed Summons to the Dice-Game and Exile Wager
तां कृष्यमाणां च रजस्वलां च स्रस्तोत्तरीयामतदर्हमाणाम् । वृकोदर: प्रेक्ष्य युधिष्ठिरं च चकार कोपं परमार्तरूप:,कृष्णा रजस्वलावस्थामें घसीटी जा रही थी, उसके सिरका कपड़ा सरक गया था, वह इस तिरस्कारके योग्य कदापि नहीं थी। उसकी यह दुरवस्था देखकर भीमसेनको बड़ी पीड़ा हुई। वे युधिष्ठिरकी ओर देखकर अत्यन्त कुपित हो उठे
tāṁ kṛṣyamāṇāṁ ca rajasvalāṁ ca srastottarīyām atad-arhamāṇām | vṛkodaraḥ prekṣya yudhiṣṭhiraṁ ca cakāra kopaṁ paramārta-rūpaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Seeing Kṛṣṇā being dragged while she was in her menstrual period—her upper garment slipping loose—though she was wholly undeserving of such humiliation, Vṛkodara (Bhīma) was seized with intense anguish. Looking toward Yudhiṣṭhira, he flared up in fierce anger, pained to the core by the violation of dignity and dharma before his eyes.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical collapse that occurs when a vulnerable person’s dignity is violated in public and elders remain passive. Bhīma’s anguish and anger underscore that dharma is not merely personal virtue but a social duty: protecting the undeserving from humiliation and resisting adharma, especially when power structures enable abuse.
In the Kuru assembly after the dice-game, Draupadī (Kṛṣṇā) is forcibly dragged in a state of menstruation, her upper cloth slipping. Bhīma (Vṛkodara) witnesses this and, looking toward Yudhiṣṭhira—whose gambling loss has precipitated the crisis—erupts in furious, grief-stricken anger.