Shloka 40
ऋषिसमागमः — युधिष्ठिरस्य शोकवर्णनम्
Sage Assembly and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Articulation of Grief
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
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | yadā hāsya giro rūkṣāḥ śṛṇomi kaṭukodayāḥ | dyūtasabhāyāṃ duryodhanahitecchayā te vaktum ārabhante, tadā teṣāṃ pādān avalokya mama vardhamāno roṣaḥ śāmyati sma |
Yudhiṣṭhira disse: “Sempre que eu ouvia suas palavras ásperas, erguidas com amarga intenção—quando, no salão dos dados, começavam a falar desejosos de agradar a Duryodhana—minha ira crescia. Mas, no instante em que eu fitava seus pés, aquela cólera que se avolumava se aquietava.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.