Shloka 42

Devanagari script

येन कृच्छात्‌ पाण्डवानुज्जहार तथा5त्मानं नौरिव सागरौघात्‌ | यत्राब्रवीत्‌ सूतपुत्र: सभायां कृष्णां स्थितां श्वशुराणां समीपे,संजय! द्यूतसभामें जो अन्याय हुआ था, उसे भुलाकर तुम पाण्डुनन्दन युधिष्ठिरको धर्मका उपदेश देना चाहते हो। द्रौपदीने उस दिन सभामें जाकर अत्यन्त दुष्कर और पवित्र कार्य किया कि उसने पाण्डवों तथा अपनेको महान्‌ संकटसे बचा लिया; ठीक उसी तरह, जैसे नौका समुद्रकी अगाध जलराशिमें डूबनेसे बचा लेती है। उस सभामें कृष्णा श्वशुरजनोंके समीप खड़ी थी, तो भी सूतपुत्र कर्णने उसे अपमानित करते हुए कहा --'याज्ञसेनि! अब तेरे लिये दूसरी गति नहीं है, तू दासी बनकर दुर्योधनके महलमें चली जा। पाण्डव जूएमें अपनेको हार चुके हैं, अतः अब वे तेरे पति नहीं रहे। भाविनि! अब तू किसी दूसरेको अपना पति वरण कर ले'

Transliteration

yena kṛcchrāt pāṇḍavān ujjahāra tathātmānaṃ naur iva sāgaraughāt | yatrābravīt sūtaputraḥ sabhāyāṃ kṛṣṇāṃ sthitāṃ śvaśurāṇāṃ samīpe, sañjaya |

Translation

Vāyu said: “Remember the deed by which Draupadī, with great difficulty, rescued the Pāṇḍavas and herself from calamity—like a boat saving one from the surging flood of the sea. Yet in that very assembly, while Kṛṣṇā stood near her elders-by-marriage, the charioteer’s son Karṇa spoke words of humiliation. And now, Sañjaya, setting aside the injustice that occurred in the dice-hall, you wish to instruct Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Pāṇḍu, about dharma.”

Word by Word

येनby which/whereby

कृच्छ्रात्from distress/with difficulty

पाण्डवान्the Pandavas

उज्जहारlifted out/rescued

तथाso/likewise

आत्मानम्himself

नौःa boat

इवlike/as

सागरौघात्from the ocean-flood/surge

यत्रwhere/wherein

अब्रवीत्said/spoke

सूतपुत्रःthe charioteer’s son (Karna)

सभायाम्in the assembly

कृष्णाम्Krishnaa (Draupadi)

स्थिताम्standing/placed

श्वशुराणाम्of the fathers-in-law/elders by marriage

समीपेnear

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyu (Vāyudeva)

Sañjaya

Pāṇḍavas

Yudhiṣṭhira

Pāṇḍu

Draupadī (Kṛṣṇā, Yājñasenī)

Karṇa (Sūtaputra)

Dice-hall / assembly (dyūtasabhā / sabhā)

Boat (nauḥ)

Ocean-flood (sāgaraugha)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage condemns moral posturing that ignores prior injustice: lecturing about dharma while overlooking the adharma of the dice-hall is ethically hollow. It also highlights Draupadī’s courageous, protective act amid crisis and contrasts it with Karṇa’s public humiliation of her, underscoring how dharma must include justice, restraint of speech, and protection of the vulnerable.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu addresses Sañjaya, recalling the dice-hall episode: Draupadī’s intervention is likened to a boat saving people from an ocean flood, while Karṇa insults her in the assembly even as she stands near her marital elders. Vāyu then challenges Sañjaya’s attempt to give Yudhiṣṭhira a ‘dharma lesson’ as if the earlier wrongdoing could be forgotten.