Shloka 16
अकृतान्त्र कृतास्त्रश्न दुर्बलं बलवत्तर: । एवं कर्मसु सर्वेषु निकृत्यैव युधिष्ठिर । विद्वानविदुषो5भ्येति नाहुस्तां निकृतिं जना:,धर्मराज युधिष्ठिर! अस्त्रविद्यामें निपुण योद्धा अनाड़ीको एवं बलिष्ठ पुरुष दुर्बलको शठतासे ही जीतना चाहता है। इस प्रकार सब कार्योंमें विद्वान् पुरुष अविद्वानोंको शठतासे ही जीतते हैं; किंतु लोग उसे शठता नहीं कहते
akṛtāntro kṛtāstraś ca durbalaṁ balavattaraḥ | evaṁ karmasu sarveṣu nikṛtyaiva yudhiṣṭhira | vidvān aviduṣo ’bhyeti nāhus tāṁ nikṛtiṁ janāḥ ||
A stronger man overcomes a weaker one by sheer trickery—just as an untrained fighter may seek to defeat a master of weapons through deceit. In the same way, in every kind of undertaking, the learned often prevail over the unlearned by stratagem; yet people do not call that ‘deceit,’ O Yudhiṣṭhira.
युधिषछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral ambiguity: society often normalizes ‘strategic’ advantage when the learned or powerful outmaneuver the unlearned, even if the method resembles deceit. It invites reflection on when cleverness becomes unethical trickery and how public opinion can excuse it.
In the Sabha Parva’s courtly context—where policy, rivalry, and manipulation are central—Yudhiṣṭhira voices a pointed observation about how victories are frequently achieved: not only by strength or skill, but by stratagem, which people may refuse to label as deceit when it benefits the ‘superior’ party.