Shloka 42
Dambhodbhava, Nara-Nārāyaṇa, and the Counsel to Abandon Hubris
Udyoga-parva 94
स्थाता न: समये तस्मिन् पितेति कृतनिश्चया: । नाहास्म समयं तात तच्च नो ब्राह्मणा विदु:
sthātā naḥ samaye tasmin pite iti kṛtaniścayāḥ | nāhāsma samayaṃ tāta tac ca no brāhmaṇā viduḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Resolved that, at the appointed time, our father would stand by his pledge—‘He will indeed act as our father’—we never violated the agreed condition, dear sir; and the Brahmins who stayed with us know this to be true.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores dharma as fidelity to a sworn agreement: moral authority and rightful claim rest on keeping one’s pledged terms, and public witnesses (here, Brahmins) strengthen the ethical and social legitimacy of that truth.
In the Udyoga Parva’s lead-up to war, the speaker reports a claim that the exiled party never broke the stipulated conditions of their agreement; they endured the term relying on the expectation that the ‘father’ figure would honor his promise at the appointed time, with Brahmins serving as corroborating witnesses.