Shloka 6
Kuntī’s Consolation to Draupadī and Lament for the Dispossessed Pandavas (सभा पर्व, अध्याय 70)
सर्वे हीमे कौरवेया: सभायां दुःखान्तरे वर्तमानास्तवैव । न वि्लुवन्त्यार्यसत्त्वा यथावत् पतींश्व ते समवेक्ष्याल्पभाग्यान्
sarve hīme kauraveyāḥ sabhāyāṃ duḥkhāntare vartamānās tavaiva | na viluvanty āryasattvā yathāvat patīṃś ca te samavekṣyālpabhāgyān, draupadī ||
ทุรโยธน์กล่าวว่า “เทราปที! เหล่ากุรุวงศ์ทั้งปวงในท้องพระโรงนี้ล้วนระทมทุกข์เพราะเจ้า ครั้นเห็นสามีของเจ้า—ผู้มีโชคอันน้อยในยามนี้—ชนผู้มีใจอันประเสริฐเหล่านี้จึงไม่อาจตอบคำถามของเจ้าได้โดยถูกต้องครบถ้วน”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral crisis where social rank and fear suppress truthful speech: even those considered noble remain unable to answer when dharma is violated in a public forum. It underscores how adharma can prevail not only through wrongdoing but also through the silence and helplessness of the righteous.
In the Kuru assembly during Draupadī’s humiliation, she poses a pointed question about the legitimacy of her being staked and summoned. Duryodhana taunts her, claiming the assembled Kuru elders and princes are pained for her yet cannot answer properly as they look upon her ‘ill-fated’ husbands, implying their defeat and loss of agency.