Shloka 13
Draupadī’s Grief at Seeing the Heroes in Disguise (द्रौपदी-विषादः / वेष-परिभव-वर्णनम्)
रुक््मं हिरण्यं वासांसि यान॑ युग्यमजाविकम् | अध्वाश्वतरसड्घांश्व न जातु क्षयमावहेत्,यदि वे प्रतिदिन शाम-सबेरे एक सहसख्र स्वर्ण-मुद्राओंसे जूआ खेलते तथा जो दूसरे बहुमूल्य धन थे, उनको--सोने, चाँदी, वस्त्र, सवारी, रथ, बकरी, भेड़, घोड़े और खच्चरों आदिके समूहको बहुत वर्षोतक भी दाँवपर लगाते रहते, तो भी हमारा राज्य-वैभव कभी क्षीण नहीं होता
vaiśampāyana uvāca | rukmaṁ hiraṇyaṁ vāsāṁsi yānāni yugyam ajāvikam | adhvāśvatarasaṅghāṁś ca na jātu kṣayam āvahet |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Gold ornaments, bullion, garments, vehicles, teams for harnessing, and flocks of goats and sheep—together with companies of horses and mules—would never bring about any diminution (of our prosperity). Even if, day after day, one were to stake a thousand gold coins in gambling and keep wagering these other precious possessions for many years, the splendor and resources of our kingdom would still not be exhausted.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses deliberate exaggeration to stress the vastness and stability of royal resources, while implicitly highlighting how gambling can consume wealth—yet here the kingdom’s prosperity is portrayed as so abundant that even repeated wagering would not exhaust it.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, describes the magnitude of material wealth—gold, clothing, transport, and livestock—emphasizing that even if such riches were continually staked in gambling over a long time, the kingdom’s splendor would not diminish.