Shloka 4
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 28: Dharmādharmalakṣaṇa in Āpad
Crisis-Discernment of Right and Wrong
न त्वं धर्म विचारं संजयेह मत्तश्न जानासि युधिष्ठिराच्च । अथो कस्मात् संजय पाण्डवस्य उत्साहिन: पूरयत: स्वकर्म,संजय! तुम यह अच्छी तरह जानते हो कि मुझसे और युधिष्छिरसे धर्मका लोप नहीं हो सकता, तो भी जो उत्साहपूर्वक स्वधर्मका पालन करते हैं तथा शास्त्रोंमें जैसा बताया गया है, उसके अनुसार ही कुट॒म्ब (गृहस्थाश्रम)-में रहते हैं, उन्हीं पाण्डुकुमार युधिष्ठिरके धर्मलोपकी चर्चा या आशंका तुमने पहले किस आधारपर की है? गृहस्थ आश्रममें रहनेकी जो शास्त्रोक्त विधि है, उसके होते हुए भी इसके ग्रहण अथवा त्यागके विषयमें वेदज्ञ ब्राह्मणोंके भिन्न-भिन्न विचार हैं
na tvaṁ dharma-vicāraṁ saṁjayeha mattaś ca jānāsi yudhiṣṭhirāc ca | atho kasmāt saṁjaya pāṇḍavasya utsāhinaḥ pūrayataḥ sva-karma ||
Vāyu said: “Do not raise doubts about dharma, Sañjaya. You know well that from me and from Yudhiṣṭhira there can be no falling away from righteousness. Why, then, did you earlier entertain or voice an anxiety about the Pāṇḍava’s loss of dharma—about Yudhiṣṭhira, who, with steady zeal, fulfills his own duty? He lives in the household life in the very manner taught by the śāstras; on what basis did you suspect a lapse in him?”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not suspect moral failure in a person known for steadfast adherence to svadharma. Dharma is recognized through consistent conduct—zealously fulfilling one’s prescribed duties—rather than through anxious speculation.
Vāyu addresses Sañjaya and rebukes him for entertaining doubts about Yudhiṣṭhira’s righteousness. He points out that Yudhiṣṭhira is diligent in performing his prescribed duties, so Sañjaya’s earlier fear of a ‘loss of dharma’ is unfounded.