Shloka 21
ययाति–शक्रसंवादः
Speech-Ethics and Forbearance in the Celestial Court
शर्मिष्टोवाच अधर्मात् पाहि मां राजन् धर्म च प्रतिपादय । त्वत्तो5पत्यवती लोके चरेयं धर्ममुत्तमम्,शर्मिष्ठाने कहा--राजन्! मुझे अधर्मसे बचाइये और धर्मका पालन कराइये। मैं चाहती हूँ, आपसे संतानवती होकर इस लोकमें उत्तम धर्मका आचरण करूँ
śarmiṣṭhovāca | adharmāt pāhi māṃ rājan dharmaṃ ca pratipādaya | tvatto 'patyavatī loke careyaṃ dharmam uttamam |
Śarmiṣṭhā sprach: «O König, schütze mich vor Adharma und stelle mich fest auf den Pfad des Dharma. Indem ich durch dich Kinder habe, möge ich in dieser Welt leben und den höchsten Dharma üben.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma as something a ruler should actively safeguard and cultivate: protection from adharma is not merely avoidance of wrongdoing but a positive establishment in righteous conduct, linked here to social legitimacy and the ethical ordering of family life.
Śarmiṣṭhā addresses a king, pleading for protection from an unrighteous situation and asking to be guided into dharma; she expresses a desire to become a mother through him and thereby live according to the ‘highest dharma’ within the world’s social and moral framework.