Adhyāya 16 — Daiva, Kṣatriya-dharma, and Public Reassurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
द्यूतापह्तराज्यानां पतितानां सुखादपि । ज्ञातिभि: परिभूतानां कृतमुद्धर्षणं मया
dyūtāpahṛtarājyānāṃ patitānāṃ sukhād api | jñātibhiḥ paribhūtānāṃ kṛtam uddharṣaṇaṃ mayā ||
Вайшампаяна сказал: «Увидев тех, у кого игра в кости отняла царство, — павших даже с высот довольства и счастья и униженных собственными родичами, — я взбудоражил их и разжёг в них дух, побуждая к действию».
वैशम्पायन उवाच
The verse highlights how loss of rightful sovereignty through adharma (here, the dice-game) leads to social humiliation and moral crisis, and how such degradation can become a catalyst for decisive action—raising questions about when rousing someone toward conflict is justified as a response to injustice.
The speaker explains his motive: because the dispossessed were stripped of their kingdom by gambling and were scorned by their own relatives, he deliberately encouraged and energized them—implicitly toward the struggle that followed.