Shloka 59
अध्याय ३३ — कर्म, दैव, हठ, स्वभाव और पुरुषार्थ पर द्रौपदी का उपदेश
Draupadī on Action, Fate, and Human Effort
जिद्नां दत्त्वा बहूनां हि क्षुद्राणां लुब्धचेतसाम् । निकृत्या लभते राज्यमाहारमिव शल्यक:,'जैसे बहेलिया लुब्ध हृदयवाले छोटे-छोटे मृगोंको कुछ खानेकी वस्तुओंका लोभ देकर छलसे उन्हें पकड़ लेता है, उसी प्रकार नीतिज्ञ राजा शत्रुओंके प्रति कूटनीतिका प्रयोग करके उनसे राज्यको प्राप्त कर लेता है
jidnāṁ dattvā bahūnāṁ hi kṣudrāṇāṁ lubdhacetasām | nikṛtyā labhate rājyam āhāram iva śalyakaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “By offering bait to many petty creatures whose minds are ruled by greed, a hunter secures his catch through deception; in the same way, a politically astute king, employing stratagems against his enemies, can obtain a kingdom.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a hard-edged principle of statecraft: just as a hunter uses bait and deception to capture prey, a shrewd king may use stratagems (kūṭanīti/nikṛti) to overcome enemies and secure sovereignty—raising an ethical tension between pragmatic politics and ideal dharma.
Vaiśampāyana delivers an illustrative comparison to explain political acquisition of power: the hunter’s method of luring and trapping becomes a metaphor for how a discerning ruler can win a kingdom by outmaneuvering opponents through calculated tactics rather than open force alone.