Shloka 24
Draupadī’s Lament and Theodicy: Dharma, Dice, and Īśvara’s Governance (Āraṇyaka-parva 31)
धर्म एव प्लवो नान्य: स्वर्ग द्रौपदि गच्छताम् । सैव नौ: सागरस्येव वणिज: पारमिच्छत:,ट्रपदकुमारी! जैसे समुद्रके पार जानेकी इच्छा-वाले वणिक्के लिये जहाजकी आवश्यकता है, वैसे ही स्वर्गमें जानेवालोंके लिये धर्माचरण ही जहाज है, दूसरा नहीं
dharma eva plavo nānyaḥ svargaṃ draupadi gacchatām | saiva nauḥ sāgarasyeva vaṇijaḥ pāram icchataḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Dharma alone is the raft—there is no other—for those who would go to heaven, O Draupadī. Just as a merchant who longs to cross the ocean needs a ship, so too for those seeking the heavenly goal, righteous conduct itself is the only vessel.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma (righteous conduct) is presented as the sole reliable means of attaining the higher goal (svarga). Like a ship enabling an ocean-crossing, ethical living is the indispensable support for crossing beyond worldly peril toward a blessed destination.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Draupadī and frames a moral instruction: for those aiming at heaven, there is no alternative ‘vehicle’ besides dharma. He uses a vivid commercial-seafaring simile—merchant and ship—to make the necessity of dharma concrete and practical.