Shloka 226
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproof and Vow-Logic: On Dice-Deception, Exile Terms, and the Governance of Anger
Adhyāya 35
बुद्धया वीर्येण संयुक्त: श्रुेतेनाभिजनेन च । महाराज! आपने राजधर्मका वर्णन तो सुना ही होगा, जैसा मनुजीने कहा है। फिर क्रूर, मायावी, हमारे हितके विपरीत आचरण करनेवाले तथा अशान्तचित्तवाले दुरात्मा धृतराष्ट्रपुत्रोंका अपराध आप क्यों क्षमा करते हैं? पुरुषसिंह! आप बुद्धि, पराक्रम, शास्त्रज्ञान तथा उत्तम कुलसे सम्पन्न होकर भी जहाँ कुछ काम करना है, वहाँ अजगरकी भाँति चुपचाप क्यों बैठे हैं?
bhīmasena uvāca | buddhyā vīryeṇa saṃyuktaḥ śrutena abhijanena ca | mahārāja! āpane rājadharmakā varṇana to sunā hī hogā, yathā manujīne kahā hai | punaḥ krūra-māyāvinaḥ asmākaṃ hita-viparīta-ācāriṇaḥ aśānta-citta-vantaḥ durātmā dhṛtarāṣṭra-putrāṇāṃ aparādhaṃ bhavān kathaṃ kṣamate? puruṣa-siṃha! bhavān buddhi-parākrama-śāstrajñāna-uttama-kula-sampannaḥ san yatra kiñcit kartavyaṃ tatra ajagara iva tūṣṇīṃ-bhūtaḥ kutaḥ upaviśati?
Bhima said: “O great king! Endowed with intelligence and valor, and supported by learning and noble birth—you have surely heard the exposition of royal duty, as Manu has declared. Then why do you forgive the offenses of Dhritarashtra’s sons—cruel and deceitful men, acting against our welfare, restless in mind, and wicked at heart? O lion among men! Though you possess discernment, prowess, knowledge of the scriptures, and an excellent lineage, why do you sit silent like a python when there is work that must be done?”
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Royal duty (rājadharma) requires active protection of justice and the welfare of one’s people; forgiving repeated, harmful wrongdoing out of passivity is portrayed as a failure of kingship, even when one has learning, lineage, and personal virtue.
Bhima confronts the addressed king (in the Pandava context, typically Yudhiṣṭhira), criticizing his continued forbearance toward Dhritarashtra’s sons. He invokes Manu’s authority on rājadharma and uses the ‘python-like silence’ metaphor to urge decisive action against the Kauravas’ hostile conduct.