Shloka 22
शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni
with Ulūka’s fall
निकृत्या वै दुराचारो यानि रत्नानि सौबल:
nikṛtyā vai durācāro yāni ratnāni saubalaḥ
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “Tunay na sa pamamagitan ng panlilinlang, ang masamang-loob na Saubala (Śakuni) ay nakamit ang mga hiyas na iyon—isang gawaing naglalantad ng kanyang kabulukan at dungis ng tagumpay na nakamtan sa daya, hindi sa matuwid na paraan.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns acquisition through deceit: even if the object is valuable (jewels), the method—fraud—marks the agent as durācāra (of corrupt conduct) and frames the act as adharma.
Sañjaya characterizes Saubala (Śakuni) as one who secures valuables through trickery, reinforcing Śakuni’s established role in the epic as a strategist of deception whose actions contribute to the moral collapse leading to war.