Shloka 4
Chapter 59: Baladeva’s Censure, Keśava’s Restraint, and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Moral Accounting
गौर्गौरिति पुरा मन्द द्रौपदीमेकवाससम् | यत् सभायां हसन्नस्मांस्तदा वदसि दुर्मते
gaur gaur iti purā manda draupadīm ekavāsasam | yat sabhāyāṁ hasann asmāṁs tadā vadasi durmate ||
“Wahai dungu! Dahulu di balairung kerajaan, ketika Draupadī berdiri hanya dengan sehelai kain, engkau menertawakan kami sambil mengejek, ‘Sapi, sapi!’; kekejaman dan budi yang sesat itulah yang kini berbicara darimu.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Mocking the vulnerable and violating dignity in public is a grave adharma; such cruelty reveals a corrupted mind and becomes a moral cause for later downfall and suffering.
Sanjaya recalls an earlier incident in the royal assembly where Draupadī was insulted and mocked; he uses that memory to condemn the addressee’s character, linking present speech and fate to past wrongdoing.