Shloka 41
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization
ते वयं न श्रियं हातुमलं न््यायेन केनचित् । अत्र नो यतमानानां वधश्चेदपि साधु तत्,अतः हमलोग किसी भी न्यायसे अपनी पैतृक सम्पत्तिका परित्याग करनेयोग्य नहीं हैं। इसके लिये प्रयत्न करते हुए यदि हमलोगोंका वध हो जाय तो वह भी अच्छा ही है
te vayaṁ na śriyaṁ hātuṁ alam nyāyena kenacit | atra no yatamānānāṁ vadhaś ced api sādhu tat ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “We are not fit to abandon our rightful prosperity and ancestral inheritance on the basis of any so‑called ‘justice’ that violates true right. If, while striving here to uphold our claim, we should even be slain, that too would be acceptable—for it is better to fall in the pursuit of dharma than to live by surrendering what is rightfully ours.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True dharma is not passive surrender: one should not renounce rightful inheritance and honor under the pretext of a distorted ‘justice.’ If death comes while defending what is right, that sacrifice is ethically preferable to living through unjust capitulation.
In the Udyoga Parva’s negotiations and rising tension before the great war, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates the Pāṇḍavas’ resolve: they will not abandon their legitimate share of the kingdom, and they accept even death if it occurs while striving to uphold their rightful claim.