Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 17

शल्यस्य सेनापत्याभ्युपगमः | Śalya’s Acceptance of Command

Devanagari script

दुःशासनेन यत्‌ कृष्णा एकवस्त्रा रजस्वला | परिक्लिष्टा सभामध्ये सर्वलोकस्य पश्यत:

Transliteration

duḥśāsanena yat kṛṣṇā ekavastrā rajasvalā | parikliṣṭā sabhāmadhye sarvalokasya paśyataḥ ||

Translation

ਸੰਜਯ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਦੁਸ਼ਾਸਨ ਨੇ ਕ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਣਾ (ਦ੍ਰੌਪਦੀ) ਨੂੰ ਇਕੋ ਵਸਤ੍ਰ ਵਿੱਚ, ਰਜਸਵਲਾ ਅਵਸਥਾ ਵਿੱਚ, ਸਭ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਦੇ ਵੇਖਦਿਆਂ ਸਭਾ ਦੇ ਵਿਚਕਾਰ ਤੜਪਾਇਆ—ਇਹ ਧਰਮ ਦੀ ਖੁੱਲ੍ਹੀ ਉਲੰਘਣਾ ਸੀ।

Word by Word

• दुःशासनेन: by Duhshasana
• दुःशासनेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःशासन
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• यत्: that/which (introducing the clause)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यद्

• कृष्णा: Krishnaa (Draupadi)
• कृष्णा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्णा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• एकवस्त्रा: wearing a single garment
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एकवस्त्र
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• रजस्वला: menstruating
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रजस्वला
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• परिक्लिष्टा: afflicted, tormented
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परि + क्लिश्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• सभामध्ये: in the midst of the assembly
• सभामध्ये: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सभा + मध्य

• सर्वलोकस्य: of all the people (of everyone)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वलोक
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• पश्यतः: while (he/they) was/were seeing; of the onlooker(s)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पश्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• दुःशासन (Duḥśāsana)
• कृष्णा / द्रौपदी (Kṛṣṇā / Draupadī)
• सभा (royal assembly/court)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how adharma becomes systemic when a powerful wrong is committed publicly and the assembly remains passive. Ethical failure is not only in the aggressor’s act but also in the silence of those who witness injustice without intervening.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya recalls the infamous court outrage in which Duḥśāsana mistreated Draupadī in the Kuru assembly—she is described as wearing only one garment and being in her menstrual period—emphasizing the severity of the humiliation and the public nature of the wrongdoing.