Mahabharata 1.27.13 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 27, Shloka 13
Vālakhilya-Tapas and the Birth of Garuḍa (वालखिल्यतपः-गरुडोत्पत्तिः)
विनतोवाच दासी भूतास्मि दुर्योगात् सपत्न्या: पतगोत्तम | पणं वितथमास्थाय सर्पैरुपधिना कृतम्
Vinatovāca dāsī bhūtāsmi duryogāt sapatnyāḥ patagottama | paṇaṁ vitatham āsthāya sarpair upadhinā kṛtam ||
Dijo Vinatā: “Oh el mejor de los pájaros, por desdicha me he convertido en esclava de mi coesposa. La apuesta fue falseada: esas serpientes, mediante engañosa artimaña, trastocaron lo que yo había ganado con justo derecho.”
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical wrong of winning through fraud: deceit can impose unjust bondage and suffering, and it frames a moral impetus to restore justice when a rightful outcome is overturned by trickery.
Vinatā explains to her son Garuḍa that she has become enslaved to her co-wife due to a wager that the serpents manipulated by deception, reversing Vinatā’s rightful victory.
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