Mahabharata 1.27.13 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 27, Shloka 13
Vālakhilya-Tapas and the Birth of Garuḍa (वालखिल्यतपः-गरुडोत्पत्तिः)
विनतोवाच दासी भूतास्मि दुर्योगात् सपत्न्या: पतगोत्तम | पणं वितथमास्थाय सर्पैरुपधिना कृतम्
Vinatovāca dāsī bhūtāsmi duryogāt sapatnyāḥ patagottama | paṇaṁ vitatham āsthāya sarpair upadhinā kṛtam ||
വിനത പറഞ്ഞു—“ഹേ പക്ഷിശ്രേഷ്ഠാ! ദുർഭാഗ്യവശാൽ ഞാൻ എന്റെ സഹപത്നിയുടെ ദാസിയായി മാറിയിരിക്കുന്നു. നാഗങ്ങൾ കപടോപായം കൊണ്ടു പന്തയം അസത്യമാക്കി; എനിക്ക് ലഭിച്ചിരുന്ന ജയത്തെ അവർ മറിച്ചുകളഞ്ഞു.”
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical wrong of winning through fraud: deceit can impose unjust bondage and suffering, and it frames a moral impetus to restore justice when a rightful outcome is overturned by trickery.
Vinatā explains to her son Garuḍa that she has become enslaved to her co-wife due to a wager that the serpents manipulated by deception, reversing Vinatā’s rightful victory.
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