Shloka 17
शल्यस्य सेनापत्याभ्युपगमः | Śalya’s Acceptance of Command
दुःशासनेन यत् कृष्णा एकवस्त्रा रजस्वला | परिक्लिष्टा सभामध्ये सर्वलोकस्य पश्यत:
duḥśāsanena yat kṛṣṇā ekavastrā rajasvalā | parikliṣṭā sabhāmadhye sarvalokasya paśyataḥ ||
Sañjaya said: That outrage—when Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī), clad in a single garment and in her menstrual period, was tormented in the midst of the royal assembly while all the people looked on—stands as a grave public violation of dharma, exposing the court’s moral collapse and the complicity of silent witnesses.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how adharma becomes systemic when a powerful wrong is committed publicly and the assembly remains passive. Ethical failure is not only in the aggressor’s act but also in the silence of those who witness injustice without intervening.
Sañjaya recalls the infamous court outrage in which Duḥśāsana mistreated Draupadī in the Kuru assembly—she is described as wearing only one garment and being in her menstrual period—emphasizing the severity of the humiliation and the public nature of the wrongdoing.