Shloka 31
Sabhā Parva, Adhyāya 68 — Pāṇḍavānāṃ Vanavāsa-prasthānaḥ; Duḥśāsana-nindā; Pāṇḍava-pratijñāḥ
दुर्योधनके छोटे भाई! तुम्हें धर्मके विषयमें यथार्थ ज्ञान नहीं है। तुम जो जीती हुई द्रौपदीको नहीं जीती हुई बता रहे हो, इससे तुम्हारे मन्दबुद्धि होनेका परिचय मिलता है ।। कथं हाविजितां कृष्णां मन्यसे धृतराष्ट्रज । यदा सभायां सर्वस्वं न्यस्तवान् पाण्डवाग्रज:
Duryodhanake choṭe bhāī! tumheṁ dharmake viṣayameṁ yathārtha jñāna nahīṁ hai. tum jo jītī huī draupadīko nahīṁ jītī huī batā rahe ho, isase tumhāre mandabuddhi hone kā paricaya miltā hai. kathaṁ hā vijitāṁ kṛṣṇāṁ manyase dhṛtarāṣṭraja, yadā sabhāyāṁ sarvasvaṁ nyastavān pāṇḍavāgrajaḥ.
Karna said: “O younger brother of Duryodhana, you have no true understanding of dharma. By claiming that Draupadī—who has been won—has not been won, you reveal your dullness. How can you, son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, think that Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī) has not been conquered, when in the assembly the eldest of the Pāṇḍavas staked everything?”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how appeals to “dharma” can be distorted to justify wrongdoing: Karna argues in legalistic terms that Draupadī is ‘won’ because Yudhiṣṭhira staked everything, exposing a tension between procedural claims and genuine righteousness.
In the Kuru assembly after the dice game, Karna rebukes a Kaurava prince (addressed as Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son and Duryodhana’s younger brother) for denying that Draupadī has been won, asserting that Yudhiṣṭhira’s total stake in the sabhā makes her subject to the outcome.