Shloka 22
शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni
with Ulūka’s fall
Devanagari script
निकृत्या वै दुराचारो यानि रत्नानि सौबल:
Transliteration
nikṛtyā vai durācāro yāni ratnāni saubalaḥ
Translation
സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—തീർച്ചയായും ദുഷ്ടാചാരിയായ സൗബലൻ (ശകുനി) വഞ്ചനയാൽ ആ രത്നങ്ങൾ കൈവശമാക്കി; അതു അവന്റെ മലിനമായ പെരുമാറ്റത്തിന്റെ തെളിവാണ്.
Word by Word
निकृत्याby deceit/treachery
निकृत्या:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootनिकृति
FormFeminine, Instrumental, Singular
वैindeed, surely
वै:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootवै
दुराचारःthe evil-doer / one of bad conduct
दुराचारः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootदुराचार
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
यानिwhich (things)
यानि:
TypePronoun
Rootयद्
FormNeuter, Nominative, Plural
रत्नानिgems, jewels
रत्नानि:
TypeNoun
Rootरत्न
FormNeuter, Nominative, Plural
सौबलःSaubala (Shakuni)
सौबलः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootसौबल
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
Speaker
संजय उवाच
Characters & Entities
S
SañjayaS
Saubala (Śakuni)R
ratnāni (jewels)Character Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Meter (Chandas)
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns acquisition through deceit: even if the object is valuable (jewels), the method—fraud—marks the agent as durācāra (of corrupt conduct) and frames the act as adharma.
Sañjaya characterizes Saubala (Śakuni) as one who secures valuables through trickery, reinforcing Śakuni’s established role in the epic as a strategist of deception whose actions contribute to the moral collapse leading to war.