Shloka 276
निगृहा राजन् पार्थेभ्यो दद्यां कि दुष्कृतं भवेत् । भारत! मैं आज ही इन कौरवों तथा इनके अनुगामियोंको कैद करके यदि कुन्तीपुत्रोंके हाथमें सौंप दूँ तो क्या बुरा होगा?
nigṛhya rājan pārthebhyo dadyāṃ ki duṣkṛtaṃ bhavet | bhārata! mayā adyaiva ime kauravāḥ saha anugāmibhiḥ baddhvā yadi kuntīputrāṇāṃ haste samarpitāḥ syuḥ, tatra kiṃ pāpaṃ bhavet?
Dijo Vaiśaṃpāyana: «Oh rey, ¿qué falta habría si hoy mismo apresara a estos Kauravas junto con sus seguidores, los encarcelara y los entregara en manos de los hijos de Kuntī? Oh descendiente de Bharata, ¿qué daño o pecado habría en ello?»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral-political dilemma: whether forcibly restraining aggressors and delivering them to the wronged party can be justified as dharma. It highlights the tension between preventing harm through decisive action and the risk of committing adharma through coercion or partisan violence.
In Vaiśaṃpāyana’s narration to King Janamejaya, a speaker proposes immediate action against the Kauravas—capturing them with their supporters and handing them over to the Pāṇḍavas—then asks whether such an act would count as wrongdoing or sin.