Shloka 283
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproof and Vow-Logic: On Dice-Deception, Exile Terms, and the Governance of Anger
Adhyāya 35
नाज्ञातचर्या पश्यामि मेरोरिव निगूहनम् | महाराज! मुझे भी प्रजावर्गके बच्चेतक पहचानते हैं, जैसे मेरुपर्वतको छिपाना असम्भव है, उसी प्रकार मुझे अपनी अज्ञातचर्या भी सम्भव नहीं दिखायी देती
nā-jñātacaryā paśyāmi meror iva nigūhanam | mahārāja! mām api prajā-vargaḥ bāla-paryantaṃ prajānāti; yathā meru-parvataṃ nigūhayitum aśakyaṃ, tathā mama ajñātacaryāpi sambhavā na pratibhāti ||
Bhīmasena dijo: «No veo cómo podría ser posible para mí una vida en ocultamiento: esconderse sería como intentar ocultar el monte Meru. ¡Oh gran rey!, incluso la gente común, hasta los niños, me reconoce. Así como Meru no puede ocultarse, tampoco me parece viable para mí una vida de incógnito.»
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights practical dharma: one must choose strategies aligned with one’s nature and circumstances. For a well-known, powerful figure like Bhīma, secrecy is unrealistic; ethical action includes honest assessment of feasibility rather than wishful planning.
During the forest-exile context, Bhīma addresses a king (mahārāja) and expresses that living unrecognized is not workable for him, since even ordinary people and children can identify him—making concealment as impossible as hiding Mount Meru.