Shloka 15
धर्मार्थयुक्त तु महीपतित्वं॑ ग्रामेडपि कस्मिंश्वचिदयं बुभूषेत् । पित्र्यं हि राज्यं विदितं नृपाणां यथापकृष्टं धृतराष्ट्रपुत्रै:,किसी छोटेसे गाँवका राज्य भी यदि धर्म और अर्थके अनुकूल प्राप्त होता हो, तो ये उसे लेनेकी इच्छा कर सकते हैं। आप सभी नरेशोंको यह विदित ही है कि धृतराष्ट्रके पुत्रोंने पाण्डवोंके पैतृक राज्यका किस प्रकार अपहरण किया है
dharmārthayuktaṃ tu mahīpatitvaṃ grāme ’pi kasmiṃś cid ayaṃ bubhūṣet | pitryaṃ hi rājyaṃ viditaṃ nṛpāṇāṃ yathāpakṛṣṭaṃ dhṛtarāṣṭraputraiḥ ||
Even the lordship of some small village—if it were obtained in a way consistent with dharma and material propriety—he could be willing to accept. For it is well known to you kings that the ancestral kingdom of the Pāṇḍavas was seized away, in a wrongful manner, by the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kṛṣṇa frames a standard of political legitimacy: even a small share of rule is acceptable if gained in harmony with dharma and rightful material order, but the key ethical breach is the Kauravas’ wrongful seizure of the Pāṇḍavas’ ancestral inheritance.
In the opening of Udyoga Parva’s diplomacy setting, Kṛṣṇa speaks to assembled rulers, emphasizing that the Pāṇḍavas are not greedy for vast dominion; the real issue is that their paternal kingdom was unjustly taken by Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons.