Shloka 40

Devanagari script

यदा हास्य गिरो रूक्षा: शूणोमि कटुकोदया:,जब द्यूतसभामें दुर्योधनके हितकी इच्छासे वे बोलने लगते और मैं उनकी कड़वी एवं रूखी बातें सुनता, उस समय उनके पैरोंको देखकर मेरा बढ़ा हुआ रोष शान्त हो जाता था

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | yadā hāsya giro rūkṣāḥ śṛṇomi kaṭukodayāḥ | dyūtasabhāyāṃ duryodhanahitecchayā te vaktum ārabhante, tadā teṣāṃ pādān avalokya mama vardhamāno roṣaḥ śāmyati sma |

Translation

യുധിഷ്ഠിരൻ പറഞ്ഞു— “ദ്യൂതസഭയിൽ ദുര്യോധനനെ സന്തോഷിപ്പിക്കണമെന്ന ആഗ്രഹത്തോടെ അവർ സംസാരിക്കുമ്പോൾ, അവരുടെ കഠിനവും കയ്പുമുള്ള വാക്കുകൾ ഞാൻ കേട്ടാൽ എന്റെ കോപം പൊങ്ങും; എന്നാൽ അവരുടെ പാദങ്ങളെ നോക്കിയ ഉടനെ ആ ഉയർന്ന രോഷം ശമിക്കുമായിരുന്നു.”

Word by Word

यदाwhen

हास्यlaughable, mocking

गिरःwords, speeches

रूक्षाःharsh, rough

शृणोमिI hear

कटुकोदयाःhaving a bitter rise/issue; bitter in outcome

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Duryodhana

Dyūtasabhā (dice-hall)

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

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights restraint: even when provoked by cruel, partisan speech, one can check anger through a deliberate act of recollection and humility—here symbolized by looking at the other’s feet, a gesture that interrupts retaliation and restores self-mastery.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira recalls the dice-hall episode: people spoke harshly with the intention of supporting Duryodhana. Though Yudhiṣṭhira’s anger rose on hearing them, he says it would calm when he looked at their feet—indicating a conscious suppression of wrath amid public humiliation.