Shloka 19

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproof and Vow-Logic: On Dice-Deception, Exile Terms, and the Governance of Anger

Adhyāya 35

Devanagari script

श्रोत्रियस्थेव ते राजन्‌ मन्दकस्याविपक्षित: । अनुवाकहता बुद्धिर्नैषा तत्त्वार्थदर्शिनी,राजन! आपकी बुद्धि अर्थज्ञानसे रहित वेदोंके अक्षरमात्रको रटनेवाले मन्दबुद्धि श्रोत्रियकी तरह केवल गुरुकी वाणीका अनुसरण करनेके कारण नष्ट हो गयी है। यह तात्विक अर्थको समझने या समझानेवाली नहीं है

Transliteration

śrotriyasthaiva te rājan mandakasya avipakṣitaḥ | anuvākahatā buddhir naiṣā tattvārthadarśinī ||

Translation

Bhīmasena said: “O King, your understanding is like that of a dull-witted śrotriya—unripened and unexamined. Because you merely follow the teacher’s utterance, your intellect has been struck down by rote recitation; it neither sees nor can it convey the true meaning of reality.”

Word by Word

• {'śrotriya': 'a Vedic scholar learned by hearing/recitation

• one versed in śruti', 'iva': 'like, as', 'te': 'your', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative)', 'mandaka': 'dull, slow-witted person', 'avipakṣitaḥ': 'unripened, untested, not properly examined/considered', 'anuvāka': 'a Vedic lesson/section

• recitation portion', 'hatā': 'struck down, impaired, destroyed', 'buddhiḥ': 'intellect, understanding, discernment', 'na eṣā': 'this is not', 'tattva': 'truth, reality, principle', 'artha': 'meaning, purport, aim', 'darśinī': 'seeing, discerning

Speaker

भीमसेन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīmasena
• rājan (the king addressed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīma contrasts mere memorization of sacred words with genuine insight: repeating scripture or obeying a teacher mechanically can dull discernment; true dharma requires tested understanding that grasps the tattvārtha (real purport).

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīmasena rebukes the king he is addressing, accusing him of having an unexamined, second-hand intellect—like a rote-reciting Vedic student—incapable of perceiving or explaining the deeper truth behind words.