Shloka 60

अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः

Devanagari script

दासभार्येति पाञज्चालीमब्रवीत्‌ कुरुसंनिधौ । न सन्ति पतय: कृष्णे सर्वे षण्ढतिलै: समा:

Transliteration

dāsabhāryeti pāñcālīm abravīt kurusaṃnidhau | na santi patayaḥ kṛṣṇe sarve ṣaṇḍhatilaiḥ samāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dijo: «En presencia de los Kurus, se dirigió a Pāñcālī con una burla cruel: “No eres más que la esposa de un esclavo”. Y añadió: “Kṛṣṇā no tiene maridos; todos ellos son como impotentes”.»

Word by Word

दासीa maidservant/slave-woman

भार्याwife

इतिthus (quoting)

पाञ्चालीम्Pañcālī (Draupadī)

अब्रवीत्said/spoke

कुरु-संनिधौin the presence of the Kurus

नnot

सन्तिare/exist

पतयःhusbands

कृष्णेin/for Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī)

सर्वेall

षण्ढ-तिलैःwith eunuchs (lit. 'eunuch-sesames', a contemptuous expression)

समाःequal/like

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Pāñcālī (Draupadī, Kṛṣṇā)

Kurus (Kuru assembly)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how adharma spreads when a public assembly tolerates cruelty: verbal violence and sexualized slander are used to strip a person of dignity and to provoke conflict. Ethically, it condemns the misuse of power and speech, especially in a royal court where restraint and protection of the vulnerable are expected.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Kuru assembly, Pāñcālī (Draupadī) is publicly abused with the epithet “slave’s wife,” and her husbands are derided as impotent. The scene underscores the collapse of decorum and righteousness in the court, intensifying hostility and justifying the moral outrage that fuels the larger conflict.