Shloka 16
Draupadī’s Grief at Seeing the Heroes in Disguise (द्रौपदी-विषादः / वेष-परिभव-वर्णनम्)
जिनके कहीं यात्रा करते समय दस हजार हाथी और सोनेकी मालाएँ पहने हुए सहस्रों घोड़े पीछे-पीछे चलते थे, वे ही महाराज यहाँ जूएसे जीविका चलाते हैं ।। रथा: शतसहस्राणि नृपाणाममितौजसाम् | उपासन्त महाराजमिन्द्रप्रस्थे युधिष्ठिरम्
rathāḥ śata-sahasrāṇi nṛpāṇām amita-ojasām | upāsanta mahārājam indraprasthe yudhiṣṭhiram ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: Sa Indraprastha, daan-daang libong karwaheng pandigma ng mga haring may di-masukat na lakas ang minsang naglilingkod kay Haring Yudhiṣṭhira. Ngunit ngayo’y nabaligtad ng tadhana ang gayong karangyaan: ang panginoong pinaglilingkuran noon ng makapangyarihang mga hari ay nakikitang nabubuhay dito sa pamamagitan ng laro ng dice—isang panaghoy na pang-etika kung paanong ang yaman at kapangyarihan, kapag itinali sa sugal at maling paghatol, ay maaaring gumuho tungo sa kahihiyan at pag-asa sa iba.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Royal power and prosperity are unstable when dharma is compromised; the verse underscores the moral warning that attachment to gambling and poor judgment can reduce even a universally honored king to disgrace and dependence.
The narrator recalls Yudhiṣṭhira’s former imperial splendor at Indraprastha—countless chariots of powerful kings attending him—contrasting it with his present diminished condition after the dice-game, heightening the sense of reversal and pathos.