Shloka 32
Draupadī’s Exhortation on Rājadharma and Daṇḍa (द्रौपद्याः राजधर्मोपदेशः)
महाराज! मेरी सास कभी झूठ नहीं बोलीं। वे सर्वज्ञ हैं और सब कुछ देखनेवाली हैं। उन्होंने मुझसे कहा था--“पाञज्चालराजकुमारि! युधिष्छिर शीघ्रतापूर्वक पराक्रम दिखानेवाले हैं। ये कई सहस्र राजाओंका संहार करके तुम्हें सुखके सिंहासनपर प्रतिष्ठित करेंगे।” किंतु जनेश्वर! आज आपका यह मोह देखकर मुझे अपनी सासकी कही हुई बात भी व्यर्थ होती दिखायी देती है ।। येषामुन्मत्तको ज्येष्ठ: सर्वे तेडप्पनुसारिण: । तवोन्मादान्महाराज सोन्मादा: सर्वपाण्डवा:
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
mahārāja! mama śvaśrūḥ kadācana mṛṣā na uvāca | sā sarvajñā sarvadarśinī ca | sā mām uvāca— “pāñcālarājakumārī! yudhiṣṭhiraḥ śīghratayā parākramaṃ darśayiṣyati | sa bahūn sahasrān rājñaḥ saṃhatya tvāṃ sukhasya siṃhāsane pratiṣṭhāpayiṣyati” iti | kintu janeśvara! adya tava mohaṃ dṛṣṭvā mama śvaśrū-vākyaṃ api vyarthaṃ pratibhāti ||
yeṣām unmatta-ko jyeṣṭhaḥ sarve te ’pi tad-anusāriṇaḥ |
tavonmādān mahārāja sa-unmādāḥ sarva-pāṇḍavāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O great king! My mother-in-law has never spoken falsehood. She is all-knowing and all-seeing. She once told me, ‘O princess of Pāñcāla! Yudhiṣṭhira will soon display swift valor; after slaying many thousands of kings, he will seat you upon a throne of happiness.’ Yet, O lord of men, seeing your present delusion, even my mother-in-law’s words now appear to me as though they have come to nothing. When the eldest among a group becomes mad, all the rest follow his lead. O great king, because of your frenzy, all the Pāṇḍavas too have become frenzied.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a leader’s inner state shapes the whole group: when the eldest (or chief) falls into delusion or frenzy, others tend to imitate. Ethically, it warns that kingship and seniority carry responsibility—self-control and clarity are not private virtues but public necessities.
A speaker recalls a confident prediction that Yudhiṣṭhira would soon show valor and establish Draupadī on a happy throne after defeating many kings. But seeing the king’s present ‘moha’ (bewilderment), the speaker doubts that prophecy and laments that the Pāṇḍavas have all been swept into the same disturbed state, following their eldest.