Shloka 2
Adhyāya 16 — Daiva, Kṣatriya-dharma, and Public Reassurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
द्यूतापह्तराज्यानां पतितानां सुखादपि । ज्ञातिभि: परिभूतानां कृतमुद्धर्षणं मया
dyūtāpahṛtarājyānāṃ patitānāṃ sukhād api | jñātibhiḥ paribhūtānāṃ kṛtam uddharṣaṇaṃ mayā ||
毗湿摩耶那说道：“见那些因掷骰之局而被夺去王国者——甚至从安逸与幸福中坠落，又为自家亲族所羞辱——我便激起他们，振奋其精神，使之起而行事。”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how loss of rightful sovereignty through adharma (here, the dice-game) leads to social humiliation and moral crisis, and how such degradation can become a catalyst for decisive action—raising questions about when rousing someone toward conflict is justified as a response to injustice.
The speaker explains his motive: because the dispossessed were stripped of their kingdom by gambling and were scorned by their own relatives, he deliberately encouraged and energized them—implicitly toward the struggle that followed.