Shloka 129
आनुशंस्यं परो धर्म: परमार्थाच्च मे मतम् | आनृशंस्यं चिकीर्षामि नकुलो यक्ष जीवतु,यक्ष! मेरा ऐसा विचार है कि वस्तुतः अनृशंसता (दया तथा समता) ही परम धर्म है। यही सोचकर मैं सबके प्रति दया और समानभाव रखना चाहता हूँ; इसलिये नकुल ही जीवित हो जाय
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
Ānuśaṃsyaṃ paro dharmaḥ paramārthāc ca me matam |
Ānṛśaṃsyaṃ cikīrṣāmi—Nakulo yakṣa jīvatu ||
Yakṣa! me evam ālocitaṃ yat vastutaḥ ānṛśaṃsyam (dayā-samatā) eva paramo dharmaḥ; tena sarveṣu dayāṃ samabhāvaṃ ca kartum icchāmi; tasmāt Nakula eva jīvatām ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Compassion is the highest dharma—this is my settled conviction, grounded in the highest good. I wish to act with non-cruelty and kindness; therefore, O Yakṣa, let Nakula live.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Yudhiṣṭhira identifies compassion/non-cruelty (ānuśaṃsya/ānṛśaṃsya) as the highest dharma and treats it as a practical ethical rule: one should act with kindness and fairness even under pressure, valuing humane conduct as the truest measure of righteousness.
In the Yakṣa episode, Yudhiṣṭhira is questioned by a Yakṣa after his brothers fall. When granted a choice to revive one brother, he asks that Nakula be restored to life, justifying the choice through the principle that compassion and equitable regard are supreme dharma.