Shloka 54
पुनर्द्यूत-समाह्वानम्
Renewed Summons to the Dice-Game and Exile Wager
तां कृष्यमाणां च रजस्वलां च स्रस्तोत्तरीयामतदर्हमाणाम् । वृकोदर: प्रेक्ष्य युधिष्ठिरं च चकार कोपं परमार्तरूप:
tāṁ kṛṣyamāṇāṁ ca rajasvalāṁ ca srastottarīyām atad-arhamāṇām | vṛkodaraḥ prekṣya yudhiṣṭhiraṁ ca cakāra kopaṁ paramārta-rūpaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : Voyant Kṛṣṇā traînée alors qu’elle était en période de menstruation—son vêtement supérieur glissant et se défaisant—bien qu’elle fût entièrement indigne d’une telle humiliation, Vṛkodara (Bhīma) fut saisi d’une douleur brûlante. Se tournant vers Yudhiṣṭhira, il s’embrasa d’une colère farouche, le cœur transpercé par l’atteinte à la dignité et au dharma sous ses yeux.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical collapse that occurs when a vulnerable person’s dignity is violated in public and elders remain passive. Bhīma’s anguish and anger underscore that dharma is not merely personal virtue but a social duty: protecting the undeserving from humiliation and resisting adharma, especially when power structures enable abuse.
In the Kuru assembly after the dice-game, Draupadī (Kṛṣṇā) is forcibly dragged in a state of menstruation, her upper cloth slipping. Bhīma (Vṛkodara) witnesses this and, looking toward Yudhiṣṭhira—whose gambling loss has precipitated the crisis—erupts in furious, grief-stricken anger.