Shloka 14
Bhīṣma’s Counsel on Reconciliation and Partition (भीष्मोपदेशः—संधि-राज्यविभागविचारः)
श्रूयते हि पुराणेडपि जटिला नाम गौतमी । ऋषीनध्यासितवती सप्त धर्मभूतां वरा
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca — śrūyate hi purāṇeṣv api jaṭilā nāma gautamī; ṛṣīn adhyāsitavatī sapta dharmabhūtān varā.
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Indeed, it is heard even in the Purāṇas that there was a maiden of Gautama’s lineage named Jaṭilā—foremost among the righteous—who accepted seven ṛṣis as her husbands. Therefore, the inclination of my mind toward this marriage cannot, in any way, be contrary to dharma.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Yudhiṣṭhira argues that dharma is clarified by authoritative precedent: when an action appears ethically complex, one may appeal to well-known traditional accounts (here, a Purāṇic example) to show that the act can still be within dharma.
Yudhiṣṭhira defends the moral legitimacy of a proposed marriage by citing a traditional story: Jaṭilā of the Gautama lineage is said to have married seven sages, implying that such an arrangement has precedent among the righteous.