Shloka 21
Gāndhārī’s Lament and the Identification of Duḥśāsana (स्त्रीपर्व, अध्याय १८)
उक्ता हानेन पाज्चाली सभायां द्यूतनिर्जिता । प्रियं चिकीर्षता भ्रातु: कर्णस्य च जनार्दन,जनार्दन! इसने अपने भाई और कर्णका प्रिय करनेकी इच्छासे सभामें जूएसे जीती गयी द्रौपदीके प्रति कहा था कि 'पांचालि! तू नकुल-सहदेव तथा अर्जुनके साथ ही हमारी दासी हो गयी; अतः शीघ्र ही हमारे घरोंमें प्रवेश कर”
vaiśampāyana uvāca | uktā hānena pāñcālī sabhāyāṃ dyūtanirjitā | priyaṃ cikīrṣatā bhrātuḥ karṇasya ca janārdana ||
उक्ता हानेन पाञ्चाली सभायां द्यूतनिर्जिता । प्रियं चिकीर्षता भ्रातुः कर्णस्य च जनार्दन ॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how unethical speech and actions are often driven by the desire to please allies or superiors. In the dice-hall context, seeking ‘favor’ (priya) becomes a motive for cruelty, showing how adharma spreads through complicity and partisan gratification rather than principled restraint.
In the aftermath of the dice-game, Draupadī is treated as having been ‘won’ in the assembly. A speaker named Hāna addresses her in court, motivated by pleasing his brother and Karṇa, while Vaiśampāyana narrates this to Janārdana (Kṛṣṇa). The scene belongs to the broader chain of insults and violations that culminate in grief and reckoning in the Strī Parva.