Shloka 59
अनीश्वरश्व पृथिवीं कथं त्वं दातुमिच्छसि । त्वयेयं पृथिवी राजन् किन्न दत्ता तदैव हि
anīśvaraś ca pṛthivīṁ kathaṁ tvaṁ dātum icchasi | tvayeyaṁ pṛthivī rājan kiṁ na dattā tadaiva hi ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “If you are not the sovereign owner of the earth, how can you wish to give it away? O king, if this earth truly belonged to you, why was it not given at that very time?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A gift is ethically valid only when the giver has rightful authority over the object. Yudhiṣṭhira challenges the morality of “donating” the earth/kingdom without true sovereignty, stressing that legitimacy and ownership are prerequisites for righteous giving.
In the aftermath of the great war, Yudhiṣṭhira interrogates a claim about granting the earth/kingdom. He points out a contradiction: if the speaker was not truly the lord of the land, the intention to give it is improper; and if it really belonged to him, it should have been granted earlier—exposing inconsistency and questioning the ethical basis of the claim.