Shloka 21
संवरणस्य पतनं, सचिवोपचारः, वसिष्ठस्य सूर्योपगमनम्
Saṃvaraṇa’s Collapse, Ministerial Aid, and Vasiṣṭha’s Approach to Sūrya
अर्थो द्वावपि निष्पन्नौ युधिषछ्ठिर भविष्यत: । प्रतीकारश्न॒ वासस्य धर्मश्न॒ चरितो महान्,युधिष्ठिर! मेरे इस निश्चयसे दोनों प्रयोजन सिद्ध हो जायँगे। एक तो ब्राह्मणके यहाँ निवास करनेका ऋण चुक जायगा और दूसरा लाभ यह है कि ब्राह्मण और पुरवासियोंकी रक्षा होनेके कारण महान् धर्मका पालन हो जायगा
arthau dvāv api niṣpannau yudhiṣṭhira bhaviṣyataḥ | pratīkāraś ca vāsasya dharmaś ca carito mahān ||
Dijo Yudhiṣṭhira: «Con esta determinación mía se cumplirán ambos fines. Primero, la obligación contraída al morar en la casa del brāhmaṇa será saldada con la debida compensación; y segundo, al proteger al brāhmaṇa y a los habitantes de la ciudad, se consumará un gran acto de dharma.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is not only personal purity but also active responsibility: one should repay received support (pratīkāra of vāsā) and protect those under one’s care; fulfilling both gratitude and public protection constitutes ‘great dharma’.
Yudhiṣṭhira explains that his chosen course of action will achieve two goals at once: it will repay the debt of having lived in a brāhmaṇa’s home and, by safeguarding the brāhmaṇa and the townspeople, it will enact a significant duty of righteousness.