Shloka 21
उक्ता हानेन पाज्चाली सभायां द्यूतनिर्जिता । प्रियं चिकीर्षता भ्रातु: कर्णस्य च जनार्दन,जनार्दन! इसने अपने भाई और कर्णका प्रिय करनेकी इच्छासे सभामें जूएसे जीती गयी द्रौपदीके प्रति कहा था कि 'पांचालि! तू नकुल-सहदेव तथा अर्जुनके साथ ही हमारी दासी हो गयी; अतः शीघ्र ही हमारे घरोंमें प्रवेश कर”
vaiśampāyana uvāca | uktā hānena pāñcālī sabhāyāṃ dyūtanirjitā | priyaṃ cikīrṣatā bhrātuḥ karṇasya ca janārdana ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Draupadī of Pāñcāla, having been won in the dice-game in the royal assembly, was addressed in this manner by Hāna—seeking to do what was pleasing to his brother and also to Karṇa, O Janārdana. (The context is the humiliation of Draupadī after the gambling loss, where harsh words are spoken to gratify partisan allies, intensifying the adharma of the scene.)
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how unethical speech and actions are often driven by the desire to please allies or superiors. In the dice-hall context, seeking ‘favor’ (priya) becomes a motive for cruelty, showing how adharma spreads through complicity and partisan gratification rather than principled restraint.
In the aftermath of the dice-game, Draupadī is treated as having been ‘won’ in the assembly. A speaker named Hāna addresses her in court, motivated by pleasing his brother and Karṇa, while Vaiśampāyana narrates this to Janārdana (Kṛṣṇa). The scene belongs to the broader chain of insults and violations that culminate in grief and reckoning in the Strī Parva.