Shloka 7
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 3 — Sātyaki on Inner Disposition, Legitimacy, and Coercive Readiness
यदि कुन्तीसुतं गेहे क्रीडन्तं भ्रातृभि: सह । अभिगम्य जयेयुस्ते तत् तेषां धर्मतो भवेत् । समाहूय तु राजानन क्षत्रधर्मरतं सदा,यदि भाइयोंसहित कुन्तीनन्दन युधिष्ठिर अपने घरपर जूआ खेलते होते और ये कौरव वहाँ जाकर उन्हें हरा देते, तो यह उनकी धर्मपूर्वक विजय कही जा सकती थी। परंतु उन्होंने सदा क्षत्रियधर्ममें तत्पर रहनेवाले राजा युधिष्ठिरको बुलाकर छल और कपटसे उन्हें पराजित किया है। क्या यही उनका परम कल्याणमय कर्म कहा जा सकता है? ये राजा युधिष्ठिर अपनी वनवासविषयक प्रतिज्ञा तो पूर्ण ही कर चुके हैं, अब किस लिये उनके आगे मस्तक झुकायें--क्यों प्रणाम अथवा विनय करें?
yadi kuntīsutaṃ gehe krīḍantaṃ bhrātṛbhiḥ saha | abhigamya jayeyus te tat teṣāṃ dharmato bhavet | samāhūya tu rājānaṃ kṣatradharmarataṃ sadā |
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “If Kuntī’s son were playing dice at home with his brothers, and those men went there and defeated him, then their victory could be called righteous. But instead they summoned King Yudhiṣṭhira—ever devoted to the kṣatriya code—and overcame him by deceit and trickery.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A victory is ethically valid only when gained through fair and appropriate means; defeating someone through summons, manipulation, and deceit cannot be justified as ‘dharma’, even if it produces a technical win.
The speaker contrasts a hypothetical fair contest—approaching Yudhiṣṭhira at home during play and winning—against what actually occurred: Yudhiṣṭhira was summoned and then defeated through trickery, highlighting the moral stain behind the Kauravas’ earlier success.