Shloka 7
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 27 — Saṃjaya’s Counsel on Dharma, Desire, and the Non-Perishing of Karma
तदध्वान: पितरो ये च पूर्वे पितामहा ये च तेभ्य: परेडन्ये । यज्जैषिणो ये च हि कर्म कुर्यु- नन्न्यं ततो नास्तिको5स्मीति मन््ये,यज्ञकी इच्छा रखनेवाले मेरे पूर्व पिता-पितामह आदि तथा उनके भी पूर्वज उसी मार्गपर चलते रहे (जिसकी मैंने ऊपर चर्चा की है) तथा जो कर्म करते हैं, वे भी उसी मार्गसे चलते आये हैं। मैं भी नास्तिक नहीं हूँ, इसलिये उसी मार्गपर चलता हूँ; उसके सिवा दूसरे मार्गपर विश्वास नहीं रखता हूँ
tad adhvānaḥ pitaraḥ ye ca pūrve pitāmahā ye ca tebhyaḥ pare ’nye | yaj-jaiṣiṇo ye ca hi karma kuryur nānyaṃ tato nāstiko ’smīti manye ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “That path has been followed by my forefathers—my fathers and grandfathers—and even by those ancestors who came before them. Those who desire the fruits of sacrifice and who perform their prescribed works have long walked that very way. I too am not an unbeliever; therefore I adhere to that same path, and I do not place my trust in any other.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Yudhiṣṭhira affirms adherence to the inherited dharmic path: performing prescribed duties and honoring the sacrificial-ritual framework upheld by ancestors. He frames this as a stance of faith (not being nāstika) and continuity with established moral-religious authority.
In the Udyoga Parva’s deliberative context before the great war, Yudhiṣṭhira justifies his chosen course by appealing to ancestral precedent and the traditional path of karma and yajña. He presents himself as aligned with orthodox duty rather than rejecting it.