Shloka 2
Draupadī’s Rebuke of Jayadratha and Dhaumya’s Admonition (Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 252)
शकुनिरुवाच सम्यगुक्तं हि कर्णेन तच्छुतं कौरव त्वया । मया हूतां श्रियं स्फीतां तां मोहादपहाय किम्
śakunir uvāca samyag uktaṃ hi karṇena tac chrutaṃ kaurava tvayā | mayā hūtāṃ śriyaṃ sphītāṃ tāṃ mohād apahāya kim |
Śakuni nói: “Lời Karna quả thật nói rất phải, và ngươi, hỡi người con của dòng Kuru, đã nghe rồi. Ta đã đoạt lấy cho ngươi từ tay các Pāṇḍava vinh quang phú thịnh của vương quyền—Rajya-Lakṣmī rực rỡ ấy—cớ sao ngươi lại vì mê muội mà nỡ buông bỏ?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how moha (delusion) can make a ruler abandon hard-won prosperity and political advantage. It frames counsel in terms of pragmatic kingship, while implicitly warning that attachment and confusion distort judgment—an ethical tension between expedient gain and clear-sighted discernment.
Shakuni endorses Karna’s earlier statement as correct and reminds the Kaurava prince that he has already heard it. He then presses him not to relinquish the ‘flourishing royal fortune’ that Shakuni claims to have secured from the Pandavas on his behalf, questioning why he would give it up out of delusion.