Shloka 15
कृपालुषु परिक्लेशान् पाण्डवीयान् प्रकीर्तयन् । वृद्धेषु कुलधर्म च ब्रुवन् पूर्वरनुछितम्
kṛpāluṣu parikleśān pāṇḍavīyān prakīrtayan | vṛddheṣu kuladharmaṃ ca bruvan pūrvaranucitam ||
Drupada spoke, recounting the hardships endured by the Pāṇḍavas—men of compassionate disposition—and, addressing the elders, he also spoke of the duty of the family line, in a manner consistent with what had been observed from of old. In doing so, he frames the present crisis within inherited norms of conduct and appeals to senior authority and tradition as ethical grounds for action.
दुपद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ethical persuasion should be grounded in compassion for the afflicted and in kuladharma—appealing to elders and ancestral precedent to guide present decisions.
Drupada is speaking in the political-ethical deliberations of the Udyoga Parva, describing the Pāṇḍavas’ sufferings and urging the elders to consider traditional family duty and long-established propriety.