Shloka 44
Adhyāya 33: Rauhiṇeya (Balarāma) is welcomed and takes his seat to witness the gadā-engagement
द्रौपदी च परिक्लिष्टा सभामध्ये रजस्वला । द्यूते यद् विजितो राजा शकुनेरबुद्धिनिश्चयात्,“दुरात्मन्! तूने भरी सभामें रजस्वला द्रौपदीको क्लेश पहुँचाया, शकुनिकी सलाह लेकर राजा युधिष्ठिरको कपटपूर्वक जूएमें हराया तथा निरपराध दुन्तीपुत्रोंपर दूसरे-दूसरे जो पाप एवं अत्याचार किये थे, उन सबका महान् अशुभ फल आज तू अपनी आँखों देख ले
draūpadī ca parikliṣṭā sabhāmadhye rajasvalā | dyūte yad vijito rājā śakuner abuddhiniścayāt ||
Sañjaya said: “And Draupadī, afflicted and in her season, was tormented in the midst of the royal assembly; and the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) was defeated at dice through Śakuni’s wickedly calculated resolve. Behold today, with your own eyes, the grievous and inauspicious fruit of those wrongs—how you caused suffering to Draupadī in the full court, how you deceitfully overcame the king by Śakuni’s counsel, and how you committed further sins and outrages against the blameless sons of Pāṇḍu.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Adharma—especially public humiliation, deceit in gambling, and violence against the innocent—inevitably ripens into painful consequences. The verse frames the war’s suffering as the moral fruit (karma-phala) of earlier injustices, highlighting the duty to protect the vulnerable and uphold fairness.
Sañjaya recalls the infamous dice-hall episode: Draupadī was distressed and abused in the assembly while Yudhiṣṭhira was fraudulently defeated through Śakuni’s stratagem. He points to the present calamity as the visible outcome of those past wrongs committed against Draupadī and the Pāṇḍavas.