Shloka 28
सुभद्राहरणम्
Subhadrā-haraṇa: Arjuna’s Taking of Subhadrā and the Dvārakā Assembly’s Response
वनवासो गमिष्यामि समयो होष न: कृत: । इसके बाद अर्जुनने धर्मराजसे कहा--'प्रभो! मैंने आपको द्रौपदीके साथ देखकर पहलेके निश्चित नियमको भंग किया है; अत: आप इसके लिये मुझे प्रायश्रित्त करनेकी आज्ञा दीजिये। मैं वनवासके लिये जाऊँगा; क्योंकि हमलोगोंमें यह शर्त हो चुकी है” || २७ न्् इत्युक्तो धर्मराजस्तु सहसा वाक्यमप्रियम्,अर्जुनके मुखसे सहसा यह अप्रिय वचन सुनकर धर्मराज शोकातुर होकर लड़खड़ाती हुई वाणीमें बोले--'ऐसा क्यों करते हो?” इसके बाद राजा युधिष्ठिर धर्ममर्यादासे कभी च्युत न होनेवाले अपने भाई गुडाकेश धनंजयसे फिर दीन होकर बोले--“अनघ! यदि तुम मुझको प्रमाण मानते हो, तो मेरी यह बात सुनो--
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
vanavāso gamiṣyāmi samayo hoṣa naḥ kṛtaḥ |
ity ukto dharmarājas tu sahasā vākyam apriyam |
śokāturo yudhiṣṭhiraḥ skhalitayā vācā pratyuvāca—“evaṃ kim ācarasi?” |
atha sa rājā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ dharmamaryādāsu kadācana acyutaṃ bhrātaraṃ guḍākeśaṃ dhanañjayaṃ punaḥ dīnaḥ uvāca—“anagha! yadi tvaṃ māṃ pramāṇaṃ manyase, tarhi mama etad vacanaṃ śṛṇu—”
Vaiśampāyana said: “I shall go to the forest; for this is the compact we have made.” Having spoken thus, Arjuna declared to Dharmarāja that, on seeing him with Draupadī, he had violated the previously fixed rule and therefore sought permission to perform expiation—choosing forest-exile as the penance, since such a condition had been agreed upon among them. Hearing this sudden and unwelcome speech from Arjuna, King Yudhiṣṭhira, stricken with grief, replied in a faltering voice, “Why do you act so?” Then the king, who never swerved from the boundaries of dharma, spoke again—now humbly—to his brother Guḍākeśa Dhanañjaya: “Blameless one, if you take me as your authority, then listen to what I say.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights rigorous accountability to agreed rules (samaya) and the ethical impulse to atone (prāyaścitta) even for unintended transgression, while also showing that dharma includes compassionate discernment—Yudhiṣṭhira questions whether strict self-punishment is truly required when guided by rightful authority.
Arjuna tells Yudhiṣṭhira he will undertake forest-exile because he believes he has broken a prior stipulation after seeing Yudhiṣṭhira with Draupadī. Yudhiṣṭhira, distressed, asks why Arjuna would do this and begins to counsel him, invoking his own authority and dharma-bound judgment.