Shloka 5
Pāṇḍu’s Marriages, Conquests, and Triumphal Return (पाण्डोर्विवाह-विजय-प्रत्यागमनम्)
न ते शक््यमनाख्यातुमापद्धर्म तथाविधम् । त्वमेव नः कुले धर्मस्त्वं सत्यं त्वं परा गति:
na te śakyam anākhyātum āpaddharma tathāvidham | tvam eva naḥ kule dharmas tvaṃ satyaṃ tvaṃ parā gatiḥ ||
“I cannot refrain from telling you about such a dharma meant for times of distress. You alone are the living embodiment of righteousness in our lineage; you are truth itself, and you are our highest refuge and final goal.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
In moments of crisis (āpaddharma), moral guidance must be spoken plainly to the rightful moral authority; the verse elevates dharma and satya as embodied in a person who serves as the community’s highest refuge.
The speaker insists that they cannot keep silent about a pressing matter of emergency ethics and addresses the listener with reverence, declaring them the very dharma and truth of the family and the ultimate refuge.