Shloka 78
Adhyāya 123 — Droṇa’s Pedagogy: Arjuna’s Preeminence, Ekalavya’s Self-Training, and the Bhāsa-Lakṣya Trial
स त्वं विद्वन् धर्ममिममधिगम्य कथं नु माम् । अपत्यार्थ समुत्क्रम्य प्रमादादिव भाषसे
sa tvaṁ vidvan dharmam imam adhigamya kathaṁ nu mām | apatyārthaṁ samutkramya pramādād iva bhāṣase ||
“You are learned and you have understood this dharma—so how is it that you now speak to me as though out of heedlessness? Having set aside the path of dharma, why do you again urge me toward begetting offspring?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a learned person must act consistently with dharma; urging someone toward an act framed as contrary to dharma is criticized as ‘pramāda’ (heedlessness). Ethical counsel must align with the moral order one claims to know.
In Vaiśampāyana’s narration, a speaker rebukes a learned interlocutor: despite knowing dharma, he appears to abandon it and then presses the other person to pursue offspring, prompting a moral challenge about consistency and rightful conduct.