Shloka 20
पाण्डवानां वनप्रस्थानवर्णनम् / The Pāṇḍavas’ Departure for the Forest
Vidura’s Report and Portents
दुर्योधन उवाच भीमस्य वाकये तद्वदेवार्जुनस्य स्थितो<हं वै यमयोश्वैवमेव । युधिष्ठिरं ते प्रवदन्त्वनीश- मथो दास्यान्मोक्ष्यसे याज्ञसेनि
duryodhana uvāca
bhīmasya vākye tadvad evārjunasya sthito ’haṃ vai yamayoś caivam eva |
yudhiṣṭhiraṃ te pravadantv anīśam atho dāsyān mokṣyase yājñaseni ||
Duryodhana said: “I stand by Bhima’s words, and likewise by Arjuna’s; and so too by the twin brothers. Let them declare that Yudhishthira had no authority to stake you. Then, O Yajñasenī (Draupadī), you shall be released from the condition of slavery.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds a dharmic-legal question: whether Yudhishthira had the moral and juridical authority to wager Draupadi. Duryodhana frames her release as contingent on a public acknowledgment that the wager lacked valid authority—highlighting how power can manipulate ‘procedure’ and declarations to control justice.
In the Kuru assembly after the dice-game humiliation, Duryodhana addresses Draupadi (Yajñasenī). He claims he will accept the position of Bhima, Arjuna, and the twins: if they declare that Yudhishthira had no right to stake her, then she will be freed from being treated as a slave.