Shloka 8
सभा-पर्यवसान-प्रस्थानवचनम् | Counsel at the Point of Departure
कि नवतः कृपणं भूयो यदहं स्त्री सती शुभा । सभामध्यं विगाहेउद्य क्व नु धर्मो महीक्षिताम्
kiṁ navataḥ kṛpaṇaṁ bhūyo yad ahaṁ strī satī śubhā | sabhāmadhyaṁ vigāheyaṁ kva nu dharmo mahīkṣitām ||
Какая беда может быть жалостнее этой: что я, женщина добродетельная и благословенная, верная жена, насильно введена в середину царского собрания? Где же ныне дхарма царей?
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse indicts the collapse of royal dharma: rulers are obligated to protect justice and the dignity of the vulnerable, and a court that tolerates coercion and public humiliation has abandoned its moral purpose.
In the context of the dice-game aftermath, a virtuous woman is brought into the royal assembly against her will and publicly questions where the kings’ sense of righteousness and duty has gone.