Shloka 23

धर्मसूक्ष्मे त्यागप्रधान्यविचारः

Subtle Dharma and the Primacy of Renunciation

Devanagari script

भवन्ति सुदुरावर्ता हेतुमन्तो5पि पण्डिता: । दृढपूर्वे स्मृता मूढा नैतदस्तीतिवादिन:

Transliteration

bhavanti sudurāvartā hetumanto ’pi paṇḍitāḥ | dṛḍhapūrve smṛtā mūḍhā naitad astīti-vādinaḥ ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Selbst Gelehrte, obgleich sie zu Begründung und Schlussfolgerung fähig sind, können überaus schwer umzustimmen sein. Diejenigen, die man als in früheren Überzeugungen verhärtet in Erinnerung hat—verblendet und zum Leugnen geneigt—rufen: ‚So ist es nicht!‘ und verweigern die Annahme des Rechten.“

Word by Word

भवन्तिare/become

सुदुरावर्ताःvery hard to turn back/very difficult to dissuade

हेतुमन्तःendowed with reasons/arguments

अपिeven/also

पण्डिताःlearned men/scholars

दृढपूर्वेin (their) firm prior resolve/when the former resolve is firm

स्मृताःare considered/are said to be

मूढाःdeluded/foolish

नnot

एतत्this

अस्तिexists/is

इतिthus/quoting

वादिनःspeakers/propounders

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Learning and argumentative skill do not guarantee openness to truth; when people cling stubbornly to prior convictions, they may deny what is evident or dharmically sound. The verse warns against obstinate denial and urges humility and receptivity in ethical discernment.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shānti Parva’s reflective discourse after the war, Yudhiṣṭhira comments on human psychology in moral inquiry: even those regarded as learned can be difficult to correct, because attachment to fixed views leads them to reject counsel by insisting, “It is not so.”