किं त्व् अतः कृपणं भूयो यद् अहं स्त्री सती शुभा ॥
सभामध्यं विगाहे ऽद्य क्व नु धर्मो महीक्षिताम् ॥
धर्म्याः स्त्रियः सभां पूर्वं न नयन्तीति नः श्रुतम् ॥
स नष्टः कौरवेयेषु पूर्वो धर्मः सनातनः ॥
कथं हि भार्या पाण्डूनां पार्षतस्य स्वसा सती ॥
वासुदेवस्य च सखी पार्थिवानां सभाम् इयाम् ॥
ताम् इमां धर्मराजस्य भार्यां सदृशवर्णजाम् ॥
ब्रूत दासीम् अदासीं वा तत् करिष्यामि कौरवाः ॥
kiṃ tv ataḥ kṛpaṇaṃ bhūyo yad ahaṃ strī satī śubhā ||
sabhāmadhyaṃ vigāhe 'dya kva nu dharmo mahīkṣitām ||
dharmyāḥ striyaḥ sabhāṃ pūrvaṃ na nayantīti naḥ śrutam ||
sa naṣṭaḥ kauraveyeṣu pūrvo dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
kathaṃ hi bhāryā pāṇḍūnāṃ pārṣatasya svasā satī ||
vāsudevasya ca sakhī pārthivānāṃ sabhām iyām ||
tām imāṃ dharmarājasya bhāryāṃ sadṛśavarṇajām ||
brūta dāsīm adāsīṃ vā tat kariṣyāmi kauravāḥ ||
[Draupadi:] "What could be more pitiable than this -- that I, an honest and lovely wife, now plunge into the midst of the assembly? Where then is the dharma of the lords of the earth? We had heard before that virtuous women are not brought into assembly; that ancient, eternal dharma has perished among the Kauravas! How should the wife of the Pandavas, the honest sister of Parshata and the friend of Vasudeva, have to enter an assembly of kings? Say then: is this wife of Dharmaraja, born of an equal lineage, a slave or not a slave? -- and I will act accordingly, O Kauravas."
7b4bbbdf7dbc · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:12:36 PM UTC
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Draupadi calls herself the "friend of Vasudeva" -- and in that name her protection already lies hidden: bound to Krishna, she is not abandoned, however the world may trample her. Her question is not about pride but about dharma: the perishing of the "eternal dharma" among the Kauravas frightens her more than her own disgrace. Her submission to whatever ruling may come -- "and that I will do" -- is telling: she does not rebel against the law but seeks it, demanding only that it be named. The verse teaches that the seeker of truth is not one who demands her own due, but one ready to submit to truth whatever it may be; and that invoking Krishna in the hour of need is not rhetoric but the very ground of hope.