द्रौपद्य् उवाच
कथं त्व् एवं वदसि प्रातिकामिन्; को वै दीव्येद् भार्यया राजपुत्रः ॥
मूढो राजा द्यूतमदेन मत्त; आहो नान्यत् कैतवम् अस्य किं चित् ॥
प्रातिकाम्य् उवाच
यदा नाभूत् कैतवम् अन्यद् अस्य; तदादेवीत् पाण्डवो ऽजातशत्रुः ॥
न्यस्ताः पूर्वं भ्रातरस् तेन राज्ञा; स्वयं चात्मा त्वम् अथो राजपुत्रि ॥
द्रौपद्य् उवाच
गच्छ त्वं कितवं गत्वा सभायां पृच्छ सूतज ॥
किं नु पूर्वं पराजैषीर् आत्मानं मां नु भारत ॥
एतज् ज्ञात्वा त्वम् आगच्छ ततो मां नय सूतज ॥
draupady uvāca
kathaṃ tv evaṃ vadasi prātikāmin; ko vai dīvyed bhāryayā rājaputraḥ ||
mūḍho rājā dyūtamadena matta; āho nānyat kaitavam asya kiṃ cit ||
prātikāmy uvāca
yadā nābhūt kaitavam anyad asya; tadādevīt pāṇḍavo 'jātaśatruḥ ||
nyastāḥ pūrvaṃ bhrātaras tena rājñā; svayaṃ cātmā tvam atho rājaputri ||
draupady uvāca
gaccha tvaṃ kitavaṃ gatvā sabhāyāṃ pṛccha sūtaja ||
kiṃ nu pūrvaṃ parājaiṣīr ātmānaṃ māṃ nu bhārata ||
etaj jñātvā tvam āgaccha tato māṃ naya sūtaja ||
[Draupadi:] 'How can you say such a thing, Pratikamin? What prince would stake his own wife? Has the king gone mad, intoxicated with the madness of the dice, or was there nothing else of his left to wager?' — 'When there was nothing else left for him to wager, then the Pandava Ajatashatru began to play: first that king staked his brothers and himself, and only then you, O princess.' [Draupadi:] 'Go, and having come into the assembly, ask the gambler, O son of a suta: what did he stake first — himself, or me, O Bharata?'
0a26e8592c58 · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:03:37 PM UTC
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Draupadi does not wail or plead — she poses a question of law: "what did he stake first — himself, or me?" It is telling how cool-headed she is in the midst of horror: instead of tears, the sharpest argument, striking at the very root. For if the king had first staked himself, then, having become a slave, he had no power to stake his wife: what he lost is void. The verse teaches that even in defenselessness there is a weapon — clear thought and law. Draupadi opposes brute force with the force of dharma: she defends herself not with her body, but with a question. And her question, hanging over the assembly, exposes the injustice of the seizure more surely than any outcry; the reason of a righteous woman proves harder than the swords of all the silent men.