Shloka 28

अध्याय ३३ — कर्म, दैव, हठ, स्वभाव और पुरुषार्थ पर द्रौपदी का उपदेश

Draupadī on Action, Fate, and Human Effort

Devanagari script

तस्माद्‌ धर्मार्थयोर्नित्यं न प्रमाद्यन्ति पण्डिता: । प्रकृति: सा हि कामस्य पावकस्यारणिरयथा,“इसलिये विद्वान्‌ पुरुष कभी धर्म और अर्थके सम्पादनमें प्रमाद नहीं करते हैं। धर्म और अर्थ कामकी उत्पक्तिके स्थान हैं (अर्थात्‌ धर्म और अर्थसे ही कामकी सिद्धि होती है) जैसे अरणि अग्निका उत्पत्तिस्थान है

Transliteration

tasmād dharmārthayor nityaṃ na pramādyanti paṇḍitāḥ | prakṛtiḥ sā hi kāmasya pāvakasyāraṇir yathā ||

Translation

Therefore the wise never grow negligent in the constant pursuit and safeguarding of dharma and artha. For dharma and artha are the very source from which kāma arises, just as the araṇi (fire-drill) is the source from which fire is produced.

Word by Word

{'tasmāt''therefore

for that reason', 'dharma''righteous duty

right conduct', 'artha''material welfare

polity', 'nityam''always

continually', 'na''not', 'pramādyanti': 'are negligent

lapse in attention', 'paṇḍitāḥ''the wise

learned persons', 'prakṛtiḥ''source

natural cause', 'sā''that (feminine), referring to dharma-artha as the source', 'hi': 'indeed

for', 'kāmasya''of kāma

of desire/pleasure', 'pāvakasya''of fire

of the flame', 'araṇiḥ''araṇi, the fire-stick/fire-drill used to kindle fire', 'yathā': 'just as

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

dharma

artha

kāma

pāvaka (fire)

araṇi (fire-drill)

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

One should not be careless about dharma and artha, because they are the foundation that makes kāma attainable in a proper, sustainable way; desire divorced from dharma-artha lacks a stable source, like fire without an araṇi.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana continues a didactic explanation, drawing an analogy (araṇi producing fire) to stress that wise people remain vigilant in cultivating dharma and artha, since these generate and regulate kāma.