Shloka 11
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 180 — Svayaṃvara-Virodha and Pāṇḍava Parākrama
Draupadī Episode
जानन्नपि च यः पापं शक्तिमान् न नियच्छति । ईश: सन् सो$पि तेनैव कर्मणा सम्प्रयुज्यते
jānann api ca yaḥ pāpaṃ śaktimān na niyacchati | īśaḥ san so 'pi tenaiva karmaṇā samprayujyate || kaccit tāta apaviṣadhnaṃ te kaccin nandasi putraka | ajānatām adoṣāṇāṃ sarveṣāṃ rakṣasāṃ vadhāt ||
Aurva dit : «Même en sachant que c’est mal, si un homme puissant ne retient pas le péché, alors — fût-il maître de lui-même — il se trouve compromis par cet acte même. Dis-moi, cher enfant : ton rite s’est-il déroulé sans obstacle ? Et éprouves-tu vraiment de la joie après avoir tué tous ces rākṣasas, innocents en cette affaire, qui ne savaient rien de la mort de ton père ?»
ऑर्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches moral complicity: if a person has the power to prevent wrongdoing and knowingly fails to restrain it, that person shares the guilt of the act. Ethical responsibility includes preventing harm when one is capable, not merely avoiding direct action.
Aurva addresses his son, first stating a principle about shared culpability when one does not stop sin despite being able to do so. He then asks whether the son’s sacrificial rite has proceeded without impediment and challenges the son’s satisfaction at having slain rākṣasas who were innocent and unaware regarding the father’s death.