Adhyāya 16 — Daiva, Kṣatriya-dharma, and Public Reassurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
प्रेक्षतामेव वो भीम वेपन्तीं कदलीमिव । सत्रीधर्मिणीमरिष्टाड़ीं तथा द्यूतपराजिताम्
prekṣatām eva vo bhīma vepantīṁ kadalīm iva | satrīdharmiṇīm ariṣṭāḍīṁ tathā dyūta-parājitām ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「おおビーマよ、まさにお前の眼前で、彼女は芭蕉の木のように震えていた。貞淑なる妻のダルマに堅く立ちながらも、不運に打たれ、賽の敗北によって貶められていたのだ。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
The verse highlights the ethical weight of witnessing injustice: even a person devoted to dharma (especially strī-dharma) can be shaken and humiliated by others’ adharma, and the ruin caused by gambling (dyūta) is portrayed as a moral and social catastrophe.
Vaiśampāyana addresses Bhīma, recalling how a virtuous woman—associated with the fallout of the dice-game defeat—stood trembling before the onlookers, likened to a plantain tree quivering, emphasizing her vulnerability amid public disgrace.