Shloka 51

Adhyāya 196: Droṇa’s Conciliatory Counsel and Karṇa’s Suspicion of Counsel (मन्त्र-नय-विवादः)

Devanagari script

द्रुपदैषा हि सा जज्ञे सुता वै देवरूपिणी । पज्चानां विहिता पत्नी कृष्णा पार्षत्यनिन्दिता,द्रपद! वही मुनिकन्या तुम्हारी इस दिव्यरूपिणी पुत्रीके रूपमें फिर उत्पन्न हुई है। अतः यह पृषत-वंशकी सती कन्या कृष्णा पहलेसे ही पाँच पतियोंकी पत्नी नियत की गयी है

Transliteration

drupadaiṣā hi sā jajñe sutā vai devarūpiṇī | pañcānāṁ vihitā patnī kṛṣṇā pārṣaty-aninditā ||

Translation

ఓ ద్రుపదా! ఆ పూర్వజన్మపు కన్యే నీ దివ్యరూపిణి కుమార్తెగా మళ్లీ జన్మించింది. అందుచేత పృషతవంశపు నిందారహిత రాజకుమారి కృష్ణా ముందుగానే ఐదుగురి ఏకైక భార్యగా విధించబడింది.

Word by Word

द्रुपद-एषाthis (girl) of Drupada / Drupada’s (daughter)

हिindeed, for

साshe

जज्ञेwas born

सुताdaughter

वैindeed, surely

देव-रूपिणीhaving divine form

पञ्चानाम्of five (men)

विहिताappointed, ordained

पत्नीwife

कृष्णाKṛṣṇā (Draupadī)

पार्षत्-अनिन्दिताblameless daughter of Pārṣata (Drupada)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Drupada

Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī)

Pārṣata (Prishata lineage)

the five husbands (Pāṇḍavas, implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames Draupadī’s unusual marriage as something ‘vihita’—ordained or prescribed—suggesting that social anomalies in the epic are sometimes justified through destiny and higher dharma rather than personal desire alone.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa addresses King Drupada, identifying the newly born/appeared princess Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī) as divinely formed and declaring that she is already destined to be the wife of five men—implicitly the five Pāṇḍava brothers.