Shloka 316
नकुलं ते वने दृष्टवा कस्मान्मन्युर्न वर्थते । जो युद्धमें ढाल और तलवारसे लड़नेवाले वीरोंमें सर्वश्रेष्ठ है, जिनकी कद ऊँची है तथा जो श्यामवर्णके तरुण हैं, उन्हीं नकुलको आज वनमें कष्ट उठाते देखकर आपको क्रोध क्यों नहीं होता?
nakulaṃ te vane dṛṣṭvā kasmān manyur na vartate |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Seeing Nakula in the forest, why does anger not arise in you? He is foremost among heroes who fight with shield and sword—tall in stature, a dark-hued youth—yet today he is made to endure hardship in the wilderness; why does this not kindle your wrath?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse probes the ethical role of manyu (righteous indignation): when a virtuous and capable person is forced into undeserved suffering, especially through adharma, a kṣatriya is expected to feel moral outrage that can motivate the restoration of justice—yet that anger must remain aligned with dharma rather than personal spite.
Vaiśampāyana highlights Nakula’s excellence as a warrior and contrasts it with his present hardship in forest-exile, questioning why the listener does not feel anger on seeing such a hero reduced to suffering—an appeal meant to underscore the injustice done to the Pāṇḍavas.