Shloka 2
एतनमे तत्त्वतो ब्रूहि धर्म धर्मभूतां वर । प्रतिश्रुत्य दुरात्मानो न प्रयच्छन्ति ये नरा:,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--धर्मात्माओंमें श्रेष्ठ महातेजस्वी पितामह! जो लोग ब्राह्मणोंको कुछ देनेकी प्रतिज्ञा करके फिर मोहवश नहीं देते जो दुरात्मा दानका संकल्प करके भी दान नहीं देते वे क्या होते हैं? यह धर्मका विषय मुझे यथार्थरूपसे बताइये
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
etan me tattvato brūhi dharma-dharma-bhūtāṃ vara |
pratiśrutya durātmāno na prayacchanti ye narāḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O best of the righteous, tell me this truthfully as a matter of dharma. What becomes of those wicked-minded men who, after making a promise, do not give what they pledged?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames promise-keeping as a central obligation of dharma: making a pledge—especially regarding giving—and then withholding it is treated as a moral failure that warrants ethical scrutiny and consequences.
Yudhiṣṭhira, seeking clarity on righteous conduct, asks an elder authority on dharma to explain the true status or fate of people who promise to give but later refuse to fulfill their pledge.