Shloka 86
धर्मप्रधानं किल पाति धर्म इत्यब्रुवन् धर्मविद: सदैव । वयं च धर्मे प्रयताम नित्यं चर्तु यथाशक्ति यथाश्रुतं च । स चापि निधघ्नाति न पाति भक्तान् मन्ये न नित्यं परिपाति धर्म:
dharma-pradhānaṃ kila pāti dharma ity abruvan dharma-vidaḥ sadaiva | vayaṃ ca dharme prayatāma nityaṃ cartu yathāśakti yathāśrutaṃ ca | sa cāpi nidhaghnāti na pāti bhaktān manye na nityaṃ paripāti dharmaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “Those who know dharma have always declared, ‘Dharma surely protects the one who is devoted to dharma.’ We too strive constantly to follow dharma, acting as best we can, in accordance with our strength and what we have learned. Yet even dharma seems to strike us down and does not protect its devotees. Therefore I think dharma does not unfailingly protect everyone at all times.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse voices a crisis of moral confidence: even when people sincerely strive to live by dharma, outcomes in the world—especially amid war—may still be disastrous. It challenges the simplistic maxim ‘dharma protects the righteous,’ suggesting that dharma’s protection is not mechanically guaranteed in every circumstance.
In the midst of the catastrophic events of the Kurukṣetra war, Sañjaya reflects on the apparent failure of moral order: despite efforts to act according to dharma as taught and as one’s strength allows, suffering and death still befall the devoted. His statement conveys the despair and ethical tension surrounding the war’s unfolding.