Shloka 17
भीष्मद्रोणयोर्दुर्योधनं प्रति शमोपदेशः | Bhīṣma and Droṇa’s Counsel of Conciliation to Duryodhana
न राज्यहरणं दु:खं द्यूते चापि पराजय: । प्रत्राजनं सुतानां वा न मे तद् दुःखकारणम्,श्रीकृष्ण! मुझे राज्यके छिन जानेका उतना दुःख नहीं है। जुएमें हारने और पुत्रोंके वनवास होनेका भी मेरे मनमें उतना महान् दुःख नहीं है, परंतु भरी सभामें मेरी सुन्दरी युवती पुत्रवधू द्रौपदीने रोते हुए जो दुर्योधनके कटुवचन सुने थे, वही मेरे लिये महान् दुःखका कारण बन गया है
na rājyaharaṇaṁ duḥkhaṁ dyūte cāpi parājayaḥ | pratrājanaṁ sutānāṁ vā na me tad duḥkhakāraṇam, śrīkṛṣṇa |
«Ô Śrī Kṛṣṇa, la perte du royaume n’est pas mon chagrin le plus profond, pas plus que la défaite aux dés ; et l’exil, avec les épreuves imposées à mes fils, n’est pas la véritable cause de ma douleur. Mon tourment le plus grand est ceci : qu’en pleine assemblée, ma jeune et belle bru Draupadī, en pleurs, dut endurer les paroles dures et humiliantes de Duryodhana.»
पुत्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse ranks sufferings: material loss (kingdom), personal setback (defeat at dice), and even family hardship (sons’ exile) are portrayed as less painful than the moral injury of a woman’s public humiliation. It highlights that adharma—especially dishonor inflicted in a public court—creates a deeper wound than political or economic loss, and becomes a decisive ethical reason for seeking redress.
In Udyoga Parva, as war becomes imminent, the speaker (the ‘son’, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira in context) speaks to Śrī Kṛṣṇa about what truly torments him. He says that the central grief is not the loss of the kingdom or the dice defeat, but Draupadī’s suffering in the assembly where she had to hear Duryodhana’s cruel insults—an outrage that demands justice.