Shloka 11
तामिमां धर्मराजस्य भारया सदृशवर्णजाम् | ब्रूत दासीमदासीं वा तत् करिष्यामि कौरवा:,कौरवो! मैं धर्मराज युधिष्ठिरकी धर्मपत्नी तथा उनके समान वर्णकी कन्या हूँ। आपलोग बतावें, मैं दासी हूँ या अदासी? आप जैसा कहेंगे मैं वैसा ही करूँगी
tām imāṃ dharmarājasya bhāryayā sadṛśavarṇajām | brūta dāsīm adāsīṃ vā tat kariṣyāmi kauravāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “I am this woman—Dharmarāja’s lawful wife, born of the same social order as he. Tell me plainly, O Kauravas: am I to be treated as a slave-woman or as one who is not a slave? Whatever you declare, that I shall do.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharma as a public, reasoned standard: a person’s status and rights cannot be reduced to power or coercion. By demanding a clear determination—‘slave or not’—the speaker forces the assembly to confront the ethical and legal implications of treating a lawful queen as property.
In the royal assembly after the dice-game, the woman identified as Dharmarāja’s wife appeals to the Kauravas to decide her status. Her question challenges the legitimacy of her being treated as a wagered object and presses the court to pronounce whether she is bound as a dāsī or remains free.