Shloka 20
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 72 — Bhīmasena’s counsel on conciliation and Duryodhana’s disposition
भवता वारिता: सर्वे भ्रातरो भीमविक्रमा: । धर्मपाशनिबद्धाश्न न किंचित् प्रतिपेदिरे,यद्यपि आपके भाई भयंकर पराक्रम प्रकट करनेमें समर्थ थे, तथापि आपने इन्हें रोक दिया, इसलिये धर्मबन्धनमें बँधे होनेके कारण ये उस समय उस अन्यायका कुछ भी प्रतीकार न कर सके
bhavatā vāritāḥ sarve bhrātaro bhīmavikramāḥ | dharmapāśanibaddhāś ca na kiñcit pratipedire ||
You restrained all my brothers, though they were capable of fearsome valor. Bound by the noose of dharma, they could not, at that time, undertake any counteraction against that injustice.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one has the power to retaliate, dharma can impose restraint; moral duty may require enduring wrong without immediate violent response, highlighting the tension between righteous conduct and the impulse to punish injustice.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses the person who checked the Pāṇḍavas, saying that although his brothers were capable of formidable action, they were held back; because they were bound by dharma, they did not respond to the wrongdoing at that moment.