Shloka 22
शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni
with Ulūka’s fall
निकृत्या वै दुराचारो यानि रत्नानि सौबल:
nikṛtyā vai durācāro yāni ratnāni saubalaḥ
Sañjaya berkata: “Sesungguhnya dengan tipu daya, Saubala (Śakuni) yang berperangai jahat memperoleh permata-permata itu—suatu perbuatan yang menyingkap kebejatan dan noda moral kemenangan melalui penipuan, bukan melalui jalan yang benar.”
संजय उवाच
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.