Shloka 7

Bhīṣma’s Counsel on Reconciliation and Partition (भीष्मोपदेशः—संधि-राज्यविभागविचारः)

Devanagari script

दुपद उवाच अधर्मो5यं मम मतो विरुद्धो लोकवेदयो: । न होका विद्यते पत्नी बहूनां द्विजसत्तम,द्रपद बोले--द्विजश्रेष्ठ! मेरी रायमें तो यह अधर्म ही है; क्योंकि यह लोक और वेद दोनोंके विरुद्ध है। बहुत-से पुरुषोंकी एक ही पत्नी हो, ऐसा व्यवहार कहीं भी नहीं है

Transliteration

dupada uvāca: adharmo ’yaṃ mama mato viruddho lokavedayoḥ | na hy ekā vidyate patnī bahūnāṃ dvijasattama ||

Translation

Dupada sprach: „Meiner Ansicht nach ist dies Adharma, denn es widerspricht sowohl dem Weltbrauch als auch der vedischen Norm. Nirgends ist es anerkannt, o Bester der Brahmanen, dass viele Männer eine einzige Gattin teilen.“

Word by Word

द्रुपदःDrupada

उवाचsaid

अधर्मःunrighteousness; adharma

अयम्this

ममof me; my

मतःconsidered; thought (by me)

विरुद्धःopposed; contrary

लोकवेदयोःof the world (custom) and the Veda

नnot

हindeed

लोकेin the world

विद्यतेexists; is found

पत्नीwife

बहूनाम्of many

द्विजसत्तमO best of the twice-born (brahmins)

Speaker

दुपद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dupada

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dupada frames dharma as accountable to both śāstra (Veda) and accepted social practice (loka), rejecting a marital arrangement that, in his view, violates both normative authorities.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the discussion surrounding Draupadī’s marriage, Dupada objects to the idea of one woman being wife to multiple men, calling it adharma and appealing to worldly custom and Vedic sanction.