Shloka 43
Duryodhana-śibira-praveśaḥ — The Pāṇḍavas Enter the Kaurava Camp; The Burning of Arjuna’s Chariot
प्रदीपिता जतुगृहे मात्रा सह सुदुर्मते । सभायां याज्ञसेनी च कृष्टा द्यूते रजस्वला
pradīpitā jatu-gṛhe mātrā saha su-durmate | sabhāyāṃ yājñasenī ca kṛṣṭā dyūte rajasvalā ||
Vāyu said: “O utterly misguided one, your mother was burned in the house of lac; and in the royal assembly Yājñasenī too was dragged during the gambling match, even while she was in her menstrual period.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns grave adharma: attempted murder (the lac-house plot) and the public violation of a woman’s dignity (dragging Draupadī in the assembly, especially while rajasvalā). It frames these acts as moral crimes that demand accountability and become causes of catastrophic conflict.
Vāyu recalls two notorious wrongs from earlier events: the burning of the lac-house in which the speaker’s mother perished, and Draupadī being dragged in the royal hall during the dice match. The recollection functions as an accusation and a moral indictment of the addressed person’s conduct.