Shloka 81
अध्याय ३३ — कर्म, दैव, हठ, स्वभाव और पुरुषार्थ पर द्रौपदी का उपदेश
Draupadī on Action, Fate, and Human Effort
श्वदृती क्षीरमासक्तं ब्रह्म वा वृषले यथा । सत्यं स्तेने बल॑ नार्या राज्यं दुर्योधने तथा,'कुत्तेके चमड़ेकी कुप्पीमें रखा हुआ दूध, शूद्रमें स्थित वेद, चोरमें सत्य और नारीमें स्थित बल जैसे अनुचित है, उसी प्रकार दुर्योधनमें स्थित राजत्व भी संगत नहीं है
śvadṛtī kṣīram āsaktaṃ brahma vā vṛṣale yathā | satyaṃ stene balaṃ nāryā rājyaṃ duryodhane tathā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Just as milk kept in a dog-skin bag is unfit, or sacred Vedic knowledge lodged in a śūdra is deemed improper; just as truth in a thief and strength entrusted to a fickle woman are considered misplaced—so too is kingship, when seated in Duryodhana, not fitting.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse argues that power and authority (rājya) must be grounded in moral and dharmic qualification; when lodged in an unworthy person, sovereignty becomes ‘misplaced’ and harmful, like a pure substance kept in an impure or unsuitable container.
Vaiśampāyana delivers a condemnatory assessment of Duryodhana’s fitness to rule, using a chain of culturally loaded similes to emphasize that Duryodhana’s possession of kingship is incongruent with dharma and therefore socially and ethically destabilizing.