Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 42
Duryodhana’s Post-Duel Lament and Instructions (भग्नसक्थस्य विलापः)
भ्रातृभि: समयं कृत्वा क्षान्तवान् धर्मवत्सल: । द्यूतच्छलजितै: शुद्धैर्वनवासो हुपागतः
bhrātṛbhiḥ samayaṃ kṛtvā kṣāntavān dharmavatsalaḥ | dyūtacchalajitaiḥ śuddhair vanavāso hy upāgataḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Having made an agreement with his brothers and waiting out the appointed term, the dharma-loving (Yudhiṣṭhira) endured the hardship with forbearance. Yet those pure-hearted ones were deceitfully defeated by gambling-trickery, and thus the sentence of exile to the forest came upon them.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts steadfast commitment to dharma and patient endurance with the moral corruption of deceitful means: even the righteous can suffer when adharma (fraud in gambling) is used, yet their virtue is shown in restraint and fidelity to agreed terms.
Vaiśampāyana recalls how Yudhiṣṭhira, devoted to dharma, accepted the stipulated conditions with his brothers and bore the hardship; nevertheless, the Pāṇḍavas were tricked and defeated through cheating in the dice-game, resulting in their forest exile.
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