Shloka 25
पाण्डवानां वनप्रस्थानवर्णनम् / The Pāṇḍavas’ Departure for the Forest
Vidura’s Report and Portents
धृतराष्टर उवाच हतो<सि दुर्योधन मन्दबुद्धे यस्त्वं सभायां कुरुपुज्गवानाम् | स्त्रियं समाभाषसि दुर्विनीत विशेषतो द्रौपदी धर्मपत्नीम्
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | hato 'si duryodhana mandabuddhe yas tvaṁ sabhāyāṁ kurupuṅgavānām | striyaṁ samābhāṣasi durvinīta viśeṣato draupadīṁ dharmapatnīm ||
Sinabi ni Dhṛtarāṣṭra: “Para kang napatay na, O Duryodhana na mapurol ang isip—sapagkat sa kapulungan ng pinakadakilang mga Kuru, ikaw na walang disiplina ay nagsasalita sa isang babae ng mga salitang walanghiya, lalo na kay Draupadī, ang asawa ayon sa dharma (ng mga Pāṇḍava).”
धृतराष्टर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Publicly dishonoring a woman—especially one protected by dharma and family bonds—in the presence of elders is a grave breach of dharma. Such adharma is portrayed as self-destructive: it brings social condemnation, karmic downfall, and ultimately ruin to the perpetrator and his house.
In the Kuru royal assembly, Duryodhana behaves insolently toward Draupadī. Dhṛtarāṣṭra, alarmed by the moral and political consequences, rebukes his son, declaring him ‘as good as dead’ for committing this outrage before the foremost Kurus.