Shloka 33
Dyūta-āhvāna: Śakuni’s Proposal, Vidura’s Warning, and the Summons of Yudhiṣṭhira
Sabhā-parva 51
कवचानि विचित्राणि शस्त्राणि विविधानि च । रथांश्व विविधाकाराज्जातरूपपरिष्कृतान्
kavacāni vicitrāṇi śastrāṇi vividhāni ca | rathāṁś ca vividhākārān jātārūpa-pariṣkṛtān ||
ദുര്യോധനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—അവർ വിചിത്ര കവചങ്ങളും വിവിധ ശസ്ത്രങ്ങളും, വിവിധാകാരത്തിലുള്ള രഥങ്ങളും കൊണ്ടുവന്നു—സ്വർണ്ണംകൊണ്ട് ഭംഗിയായി അലങ്കരിച്ചവ.
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how sovereignty in the epic is publicly affirmed through tribute: wealth and military resources are offered to the acknowledged ruler. Ethically, it also warns that external grandeur can provoke inner resentment—Duryodhana’s gaze on Yudhiṣṭhira’s success becomes a seed for adharma-driven conflict.
In the context of Yudhiṣṭhira’s great royal rite (Rājasūya) and the grand assembly, allied or subordinate kings arrive bearing lavish gifts—armours, weapons, and gold-adorned chariots. Duryodhana narrates (and implicitly reacts to) this spectacle of Pandava prestige.