Shloka 16
“यदि आज आप रणभूमिमें पराक्रम प्रकट करके सगे-सम्बन्धियोंसहित पापाचारी द्रोणकुमारके प्राण नहीं हर लेते हैं तो मैं यहीं अनशन करके अपने जीवनका अन्त कर दूँगी। पाण्डवो! आप सब लोग इस बातको कान खोलकर सुन लें। यदि अश्वत्थामा अपने पापकर्मका फल नहीं पा लेता है तो मैं अवश्य प्राण त्याग दूँगी” ।। एवमुक्त्वा ततः कृष्णा पाण्डवं प्रत्युपाविशत् । युधिष्ठिरं याज्ञसेनी धर्मराजं यशस्विनी,ऐसा कहकर यशस्विनी ट्रुपदकुमारी कृष्णा पाण्डुपुत्र युधिष्ठिरके सामने ही अनशनके लिये बैठ गयी
yadi ājāpy raṇabhūmau parākramaṃ prakaṭya sage-sambandhibhiḥ saha pāpācāriṇaḥ droṇakumārasya prāṇān na haratha, tarhi aham ihaiva anaśanena svajīvitasya antaṃ kariṣyāmi. pāṇḍavāḥ, yūyaṃ sarve etad vacanaṃ karṇau vivṛtya śṛṇuta. yadi aśvatthāmā svapāpakarmaphalaṃ na prāpnoti, tarhi aham avaśyaṃ prāṇān tyakṣyāmi. evam uktvā tataḥ kṛṣṇā pāṇḍavaṃ pratyupāviśat—yudhiṣṭhiraṃ yājñasenī dharmarājaṃ yaśasvinī.
Vaiśampāyana said: “If today you do not display your valor on the battlefield and, together with your kinsmen, take the life of the sinful son of Droṇa, then I will end my life here itself by fasting. O Pāṇḍavas, listen to this with open ears: if Aśvatthāmā does not receive the fruit of his wicked deed, I will surely give up my life.” Having spoken thus, the illustrious Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī), daughter of Drupada, sat down facing Yudhiṣṭhira—the Dharmarāja—undertaking a fast.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage foregrounds the demand that grave wrongdoing must meet appropriate consequence (pāpakarmaphala), while also exposing the ethical tension between personal vengeance, royal duty, and dharma. Draupadī’s vow of anaśana functions as moral pressure on rulers to act decisively for justice.
After Aśvatthāmā’s atrocity, Draupadī addresses the Pāṇḍavas and declares that if they do not kill the sinful son of Droṇa and ensure he receives the fruit of his crime, she will fast to death. She then sits before Yudhiṣṭhira to begin the fast, intensifying the crisis of response and punishment.