Shloka 15
सभा-पर्व, अध्याय ६१ — द्रौपदी-प्रश्नः, सभाधर्मः, सत्यवचन-नियमः
युधिछिर उवाच सहस्रसंख्या नागा मे मत्तास्तिष्ठन्ति सौबल । हेमकक्षा: कृतापीडा: पद्मिनो हेममालिन:
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | sahasrasaṅkhyā nāgā me mattās tiṣṭhanti saubala | hemakakṣāḥ kṛtāpīḍāḥ padmino hemamālinaḥ ||
Dijo Yudhiṣṭhira: «Oh Saubala (hijo de Subala), tengo mil elefantes, todos en musth y en pie, listos. Sus sogas de amarre son de oro; llevan ornamentos de cabeza finamente labrados; muestran marcas como de loto en las sienes y la frente; y guirnaldas de oro resplandecen en sus cuellos».
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the allure of royal wealth and display; in the broader dice-hall narrative it foreshadows how attachment to status and prosperity can become ethically perilous when challenged by deceit and gambling.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Śakuni (Saubala) and lists his magnificent assets—especially a thousand musth elephants richly ornamented—within the Sabha Parva setting that leads into the fateful contest of dice.