Shloka 236
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproof and Vow-Logic: On Dice-Deception, Exile Terms, and the Governance of Anger
Adhyāya 35
छन्नमिच्छसि कौन्तेय यो<स्मात् संवर्तुमिच्छसि । कुन्तीनन्दन! आप अज्ञातवासके समय जो हम-लोगोंको छिपाकर रखना चाहते हैं, इससे जान पड़ता है कि आप एक मुट्ठी तिनकेसे हिमालय पर्वतको ढक देना चाहते हैं
channam icchasi kaunteya yo ’smāt saṁvartuṁ icchasi | kuntīnandana! āpa ajñātavāsake samaya jo ham-logoṁ ko chipākara rakhanā chāhate haiṁ, isase jān paṛtā hai ki āpa eka muṭṭhī tṛṇase himālaya parvatako ḍhakanā chāhate haiṁ |
Bhima said: “O son of Kunti, you wish to keep this concealed—yet from this very course you are trying to turn away. O Kunti’s son, in the period of living incognito you want to hide us; but that makes it seem as though you intend to cover the Himalaya with a mere handful of straw.”
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhima highlights the ethical tension between necessary secrecy and practical reality: some truths—like the presence and prowess of the Pāṇḍavas—are too great to be hidden for long. The verse urges clear-eyed judgment (nīti) rather than wishful concealment.
During discussion of the incognito year (ajñātavāsa), Bhima addresses Yudhiṣṭhira, questioning the plan to keep the brothers hidden. He uses a sharp metaphor—covering the Himalaya with a handful of straw—to argue that such concealment is nearly impossible.