Shloka 42
पुनर्द्यूत-समाह्वानम्
Renewed Summons to the Dice-Game and Exile Wager
(इमं प्रश्नमिमे ब्रूत सर्व एव सभासद: । जितां वाप्यजितां वा मां मन्यध्वे सर्वभूमिपा: ।।
imaṃ praśnam ime brūta sarva eva sabhāsadaḥ | jitāṃ vāpy ajitāṃ vā māṃ manyadhve sarvabhūmipāḥ ||
vaśiṣṭhaḥ uvāca: tathā bruvantī karuṇaṃ sumadhyamā bhartṝn kaṭākṣaiḥ kupitān apaśyat | sā pāṇḍavān kopaparītadehān saṃdīpayām āsa kaṭākṣapātaiḥ ||
«Que tous les membres de cette assemblée répondent à ma question. Ô rois qui gouvernez la terre, selon le dharma, quel est votre jugement : ai-je été gagnée, ou ne l’ai-je pas été ?» Vaiśampāyana dit : Tandis qu’elle parlait ainsi d’une voix plaintive, Draupadī, à la taille fine, jeta vers ses époux des regards obliques et les vit brûler de colère. Les corps des Pāṇḍava étaient déjà saisis par la fureur, et par la chute de ses regards acérés elle attisa encore davantage ce feu.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharma as a public standard of judgment: even in a royal court, power and victory must be tested against ethical legitimacy. Draupadī’s question forces the assembly to confront whether a person can be treated as property through an unrighteous wager, making moral law superior to mere outcome.
In the Kaurava court after the dice game, Draupadī challenges the assembly to decide whether she has been lawfully ‘won.’ As she laments, she looks toward her husbands; seeing their suppressed fury, her sidelong glances intensify the Pāṇḍavas’ anger, heightening the tension in the hall.