Shloka 16
अङ्गददूतवाक्यं लङ्काप्राकारभेदनं च
Angada’s Embassy and the Breach of Laṅkā’s Ramparts
जयद्रथने कहा--आओ चलो, मेरे रथपर बैठो और अखण्ड सुखका उपभोग करो। अब पाण्डवोंके पास धन नहीं रहा। उनका राज्य छीन लिया गया। वे दीन और उत्साहहीन हो गये हैं। अब इन वनवासी कुन्तीपुत्रोंका अनुसरण करना तुम्हें शोभा नहीं देता। विदुषी स्त्रियाँ निर्धन पतिकी उपासना नहीं करती हैं। स्वामीके पास जबतक लक्ष्मी रहे, तभीतक उसके साथ रहना चाहिये। जब उसकी सम्पत्ति नष्ट हो जाय, तो वहाँ कदापि न रहे ।। १३ -7१५ || श्रिया विहीना राष्ट्राच्च विनष्टा: शाश्वती: समा: । अलं ते पाण्डुपुत्राणां भक्त्या क्लेशमुपासितुम्,पाण्डव सदाके लिये श्रीहीन तथा राज्यश्रष्ट हो गये हैं। अब तुम्हें पाण्डवोंके प्रति भक्ति रखकर कष्ट भोगनेकी आवश्यकता नहीं है
jayadratha uvāca—āgacchata, mama rathopaviśata, akhaṇḍa-sukham anubhavata. idānīṃ pāṇḍavānāṃ dhanaṃ nāsti; teṣāṃ rājyaṃ hṛtam; te dīnā nirutsāhāś ca jātāḥ. etān vanavāsinaḥ kuntīputrān anusarituṃ tubhyaṃ na śobhate. viduṣyaḥ striyaḥ nirdhana-patim na sevante. yāvat svāminaḥ śrīḥ tiṣṭhati tāvat tasya saha vāsaḥ kartavyaḥ; yadā tu tasya sampad vinaśyati tadā tatra kadācana na vaset. śriyā vihīnā rāṣṭrāc ca vinaṣṭāḥ śāśvatīḥ samāḥ; alaṃ te pāṇḍuputrāṇāṃ bhaktyā kleśam upāsitum.
Jayadratha said: “Come—mount my chariot and enjoy unbroken pleasure. The Pāṇḍavas have no wealth now; their kingdom has been taken away, and they have become wretched and dispirited. It does not befit you to follow these sons of Kuntī who live as forest-dwellers. Wise women, he claims, do not serve a husband who is destitute: one should remain with a lord only so long as Fortune stays with him; when his prosperity is destroyed, one should not stay there at all. The Pāṇḍu princes, he adds, have been bereft of royal splendor and sovereignty for many years—there is no need for you to endure hardship out of devotion to them.”
जयद्रथ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage presents Jayadratha’s opportunistic, wealth-centered argument: loyalty should follow prosperity. In the epic’s ethical frame, this is a distorted view of dharma—true fidelity and righteousness are not contingent on wealth or royal power, and Jayadratha’s counsel is meant to be seen as adharma and manipulation.
During the Pāṇḍavas’ forest exile, Jayadratha tries to lure (and effectively abduct) Draupadī by offering luxury and arguing that the Pāṇḍavas are ruined and no longer worth following. This speech is part of his attempt to persuade her to abandon them.