Shloka 4
द्रौपदी-कृष्णसंवादः
Draupadī–Kṛṣṇa Dialogue on Settlement and Daṇḍa
यदि भीमार्जुनौ कृष्ण धर्मराजश्न धार्मिक: । धर्ममुत्सज्य तेनाहं योद्धुमिच्छामि संयुगे,श्रीकृष्ण! यदि भीमसेन, अर्जुन तथा धर्मराज युधिष्छिर धर्मका ही अनुसरण करते हैं तो मैं उस धर्मको छोड़कर रणभूमिमें दुर्योधनके साथ युद्ध ही करना चाहता हूँ
yadi bhīmārjunau kṛṣṇa dharmarājaś ca dhārmikaḥ | dharmam utsṛjya tenāhaṃ yoddhum icchāmi saṃyuge ||
Sahadeva said: “O Kṛṣṇa, if Bhīma and Arjuna, and even King Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira—though righteous—choose to follow such a ‘dharma’, then I too will abandon that dharma and desire to fight Duryodhana in battle.”
सहदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sahadeva highlights that ‘dharma’ loses legitimacy when it becomes a pretext for tolerating injustice. If even the righteous appear to compromise, he argues that one must reject such distorted righteousness and act decisively to restore moral order.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, Sahadeva addresses Kṛṣṇa and reacts to the stance of restraint associated with his brothers. He declares that if they abandon true righteousness, he will cast off that policy and choose open battle—signaling rising impatience and the ethical pressure pushing the story toward war.