Shloka 8
कि नवतः कृपणं भूयो यदहं स्त्री सती शुभा । सभामध्यं विगाहेउद्य क्व नु धर्मो महीक्षिताम्,इससे बढ़कर दयनीय दशा और क्या हो सकती है कि मुझ-जैसी शुभकर्मपरायणा सती-साध्वी स्त्री भरी सभामें विवश करके लायी गयी है। आज राजाओंका धर्म कहाँ चला गया?
kiṁ navataḥ kṛpaṇaṁ bhūyo yad ahaṁ strī satī śubhā | sabhāmadhyaṁ vigāheyaṁ kva nu dharmo mahīkṣitām ||
“What misery could be more pitiable than this—that I, a virtuous and auspicious woman, a faithful wife, am being forced into the midst of the royal assembly? Where, indeed, has the dharma of kings gone today?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse indicts the collapse of royal dharma: rulers are obligated to protect justice and the dignity of the vulnerable, and a court that tolerates coercion and public humiliation has abandoned its moral purpose.
In the context of the dice-game aftermath, a virtuous woman is brought into the royal assembly against her will and publicly questions where the kings’ sense of righteousness and duty has gone.