Shloka 8
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 126 — Kṛṣṇa’s Indictment of Misrule and the Varuṇa Analogy (कृष्णवाक्यं–धर्मपाशदृष्टान्तः)
यत् पुनर्द्रविणं किंचित् तत्राजीयन्त पाण्डवा: । तेभ्य एवाभ्यनुज्ञातं तत् तदा मधुसूदन,“मधुसूदन! उस जूएमें पाण्डवोंने जो कुछ भी धन हारा था, वह सब उसी समय उन्हींको लौटा दिया गया था
yat punar draviṇaṁ kiñcit tatrājīyanta pāṇḍavāḥ | tebhya evābhyanujñātaṁ tat tadā madhusūdana ||
वैशंपायन म्हणाले—“मधुसूदना! त्या जुगारात पांडवांनी जे काही धन हरले होते, ते सर्व संबंधितांच्या संमतीने त्याच वेळी त्यांनाच परत देण्यात आले होते.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that gains obtained through ethically fraught means—here, gambling that led to wrongful loss—need not be treated as legitimate or permanent. The restoration ‘by consent’ points to an acknowledgment that rightful ownership and fairness override mere technical victory in a dice game.
Vaiśaṃpāyana tells Kṛṣṇa (Madhusūdana) that whatever wealth the Pāṇḍavas had lost in the dice episode was, at that time, returned to them with due assent—indicating a moment of restitution amid the larger conflict that later culminates in war.