Shloka 4
पुनर्द्यूत-समाह्वानम्
Renewed Summons to the Dice-Game and Exile Wager
प्रातिकाम्युवाच युधिष्ठिरो द्यूतमदेन मत्तो दुर्योधनो द्रौपदि त्वामजैषीत् । सा त्वं प्रपद्यस्व धृतराष्ट्रस्य वेश्म नयामि त्वां कर्मणे याज्ञसेनि
Vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca: Prātikāmy uvāca—Yudhiṣṭhiro dyūtamadena matto Duryodhano Draupadi tvām ajaiṣīt. Sā tvaṃ prapadyasva Dhṛtarāṣṭrasya veśma; nayāmi tvāṃ karmaṇe, Yājñaseni.
Prātikāmin dit : «Draupadī, Yudhiṣṭhira, ivre de la fièvre du jeu, après avoir tout perdu, t’a mise en gage. Duryodhana t’a désormais gagnée. Soumets-toi donc au palais de Dhṛtarāṣṭra ; ô Yājñasenī, je t’y conduis pour que l’on t’y assigne au service.»
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how loss of self-control and moral discernment (here, gambling-induced delusion) can lead to grave ethical collapse—treating persons as property and attempting to reduce dignity to servitude—thereby exposing the tension between royal power, dharma, and human worth.
A court attendant, Prātikāmin, conveys to Draupadī that Yudhiṣṭhira, having lost in the dice game, staked her and that Duryodhana claims to have won her; he orders her to come to Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s palace to be made to serve, setting up the ensuing confrontation in the Kuru court.