Shloka 50
Kuberasaras-darśana (Bhīma beholds Kubera’s guarded lotus-lake) / कुबेरसरः-दर्शनम्
एष ते5भिहित: पार्थ घोरो धर्मो दुरन्वय: । त॑ स्वधर्मविभागेन विनयस्थोडनुपालय,कुन्तीनन्दन! यह मैंने तुम्हें कठोर राज्य-धर्मका उपदेश दिया है। इसके मर्मको समझना अत्यन्त कठिन है। तुम अपने धर्मके विभागानुसार विनीतभावसे इसका पालन करो
eṣa te ’bhihitaḥ pārtha ghoro dharmo duranvayaḥ | taṁ svadharmavibhāgena vinayastho ’nupālaya, kuntīnandana |
O Pārtha, I have thus explained to you this formidable rule of dharma—hard to grasp and harder to apply. Therefore, O son of Kuntī, abiding in humility, uphold it in accordance with the proper divisions of your own duty.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when a dharma is authoritative—especially stern statecraft or kingly duty—it can be subtle and difficult to apply. The instruction is to follow it with humility and disciplined self-restraint, guided by the proper classification of one’s own role-based duties (svadharma), rather than by impulse or pride.
Vaiśampāyana, in the course of narrating the Vana Parva, addresses Pārtha (Arjuna) and concludes or reinforces a prior exposition on a severe and complex form of dharma (implicitly rājadharma). He urges Arjuna to uphold that teaching in practice, with humility, according to the appropriate divisions of duty.