Shloka 19

Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 72 — Bhīmasena’s counsel on conciliation and Duryodhana’s disposition

Devanagari script

आकृष्य केशे रुदती सभायां राजसंसदि । भीष्मद्रोणप्रमुखतो गौरिति व्याहृता मुहुः,उन दिनों जब जूएका खेल चल रहा था, अत्यन्त दुरात्मा पापी दुःशासन अनाथकी भाँति रोती-कलपती हुई महारानी द्रौपदीको उनके केश पकड़कर राजसभामें घसीट लाया और भीष्म तथा द्रोणाचार्य आदिके समक्ष उसने उनका उपहास करते हुए बारंबार उसे “गाय” कहकर पुकारा

Transliteration

ākṛṣya keśe rudatī sabhāyāṃ rājasansadi | bhīṣmadroṇapramukhato gaur iti vyāhṛtā muhuḥ ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Dragging her by the hair as she wept in the royal assembly hall, in the very presence of Bhīṣma, Droṇa, and the foremost elders, she was repeatedly addressed with the insulting cry ‘cow!’—a cruel public humiliation that exposed the collapse of dharma in the court.”

Word by Word

आकृष्यhaving dragged/pulled

केशेby/in the two locks of hair (i.e., by the hair)

रुदतीweeping

सभायाम्in the assembly

राजसंसदिin the royal court/king’s council

भीष्मद्रोणप्रमुखतःin the presence of Bhishma and Drona and the foremost (others)

गौःcow (as a taunt/name)

इतिthus/‘as’

व्याहृताuttered/spoken

मुहुःagain and again/repeatedly

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Draupadī

Bhīṣma

Droṇa

royal assembly (sabhā/rājasansad)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how public institutions collapse when power is used to humiliate the vulnerable and when respected elders remain passive. It frames the outrage not only as personal cruelty but as a visible breach of dharma within the royal court.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira recalls Draupadī’s humiliation in the assembly: she is dragged by the hair while crying, and in front of Bhīṣma, Droṇa, and other leaders she is repeatedly taunted with the word ‘cow,’ underscoring the court’s moral failure.