Shloka 96
Vipula’s Guru-Obedience, Divine Flowers, and the Peril of Others’ Oaths (विपुलोपाख्यानम्—पुष्पप्राप्तिः शपथ-प्रसङ्गश्च)
इति यास्ता: कथं वीर संरक्ष्या: पुरुषैरिह । वीर! जिनके झूठको भी सच और सचको भी झूठ बताया गया है, ऐसी स्त्रियोंकी रक्षा पुरुष यहाँ कैसे कर सकते हैं?
iti yās tāḥ kathaṃ vīra saṃrakṣyāḥ puruṣair iha |
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «Ainsi donc, ô héros, comment les hommes de ce monde pourraient-ils protéger de telles femmes—des femmes dont le mensonge est proclamé vérité, et dont la vérité est flétrie comme mensonge ?»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic dilemma: protection and social responsibility become difficult when public judgment is inverted—when lies are treated as truth and truth is condemned as lie. It points to the ethical crisis created by distorted reputation and unreliable testimony.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a ‘hero’ and raises a pointed question about how men can safeguard certain women in society when their words and character are misread or misrepresented—suggesting a context of slander, mistrust, and the collapse of fair discernment.