Shloka 51
अध्याय ८ — शल्यस्य सत्कारः, वरदानं, पाण्डवसमागमश्च (Śalya’s Reception, the Boon, and Meeting the Pāṇḍavas)
जटासुरात् परिक्लेश: कीचकाच्च महाद्युते । द्रौपद्याधिगतं सर्व दमयन्त्या यथाशुभम्
Jaṭāsurāt parikleśaḥ Kīcakāc ca mahādyute | Draupadyādhigataṃ sarvaṃ Damayantyā yathāśubham ||
Śalya said: “O great-splendoured one, there was grievous suffering because of Jaṭāsura, and also because of Kīcaka. All that calamity which befell Draupadī was as inauspicious as what befell Damayantī.”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames suffering as a moral and narrative touchstone: Draupadī’s ordeals (caused by violent and lust-driven wrongdoers like Jaṭāsura and Kīcaka) are held up alongside Damayantī’s famed misfortunes, underscoring the ethical condemnation of adharma and the endurance of the righteous amid calamity.
Śalya recalls earlier crises faced by the Pāṇḍavas’ household—especially the dangers and humiliations surrounding Draupadī—citing the troubles from Jaṭāsura and Kīcaka, and he compares Draupadī’s inauspicious experiences to the well-known sufferings of Damayantī.