Shloka 2
Adhyāya 16 — Daiva, Kṣatriya-dharma, and Public Reassurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
द्यूतापह्तराज्यानां पतितानां सुखादपि । ज्ञातिभि: परिभूतानां कृतमुद्धर्षणं मया
dyūtāpahṛtarājyānāṃ patitānāṃ sukhād api | jñātibhiḥ paribhūtānāṃ kṛtam uddharṣaṇaṃ mayā ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : «Voyant ceux dont le royaume avait été ravi par le jeu de dés — déchus même de l’aisance et du bonheur, et humiliés par leurs propres parents — je les ai stimulés et j’ai ranimé leur ardeur pour l’action.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how loss of rightful sovereignty through adharma (here, the dice-game) leads to social humiliation and moral crisis, and how such degradation can become a catalyst for decisive action—raising questions about when rousing someone toward conflict is justified as a response to injustice.
The speaker explains his motive: because the dispossessed were stripped of their kingdom by gambling and were scorned by their own relatives, he deliberately encouraged and energized them—implicitly toward the struggle that followed.