Shloka 15
Draupadī’s Grief at Seeing the Heroes in Disguise (द्रौपदी-विषादः / वेष-परिभव-वर्णनम्)
जूएकी आसस्तिने इन्हें राजलक्ष्मीके सिंहासनसे नीचे उतार दिया है और अब ये अपने उन कर्मोंका चिन्तन करते हुए अज्ञकी भाँति चुपचाप बैठे रहते हैं ।।
daśa nāgasahasrāṇi hayānāṃ hemamālinām | yaṃ yāntam anuyāntīha so 'yaṃ dyūtena jīvati ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “He who was once followed here by ten thousand noble horses adorned with golden garlands now lives by the outcome of a dice-game.” The verse underscores the moral reversal brought by adharma: royal splendor and rightful sovereignty can be cast down when one is ensnared by gambling, leaving a great man reduced to dependence and humiliation.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how adharma—especially the vice of gambling—can overturn royal fortune: one who deserved honor and retinue becomes dependent and diminished, illustrating the ethical danger of dyūta and the fragility of worldly power.
Vaiśampāyana contrasts a former scene of grandeur—being followed by vast numbers of splendid horses—with the present condition: the same person now ‘lives by’ the dice-game’s result, pointing to the loss of sovereignty and status caused by the gambling episode.