Shloka 21
Draupadī’s Grief at Seeing the Heroes in Disguise (द्रौपदी-विषादः / वेष-परिभव-वर्णनम्)
तपस्या और वेदज्ञानसे सम्पन्न सहस्रों पूर्णकाम ऋषि-महर्षि प्रतेदिन इनकी राजसभामें बैठा करते थे ।।
vaiśampāyana uvāca | aṣṭāśītisahasrāṇi snātakā gṛhamedhinaḥ | triṃśad dāsīka ekaiko yān bibharti yudhiṣṭhiraḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Yudhiṣṭhira maintained in his household eighty-eight thousand Brāhmaṇas—graduates of Vedic study who lived as householders—each attended by thirty maidservants. The verse underscores the king’s dharmic role as a protector and sustainer of learned, disciplined lives through generous, orderly patronage.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A righteous king upholds dharma not only by personal virtue but by sustaining Vedic learning and disciplined household life through generous, structured support; prosperity is portrayed as ethically meaningful when used to maintain social and ritual responsibilities.
The narrator describes the scale of Yudhiṣṭhira’s royal establishment and his extensive maintenance of learned Brāhmaṇa householders, highlighting the grandeur and dharmic generosity associated with his rule.