Shloka 5
Adhyāya 16 — Daiva, Kṣatriya-dharma, and Public Reassurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
कथं धर्मभृतां श्रेष्ठोी राजा त्वं वासवोपम: । पुनर्वने न दु:खी स्या इति चोद्धर्षणं कृतम्
kathaṁ dharmabhṛtāṁ śreṣṭho rājā tvaṁ vāsavopamaḥ | punar vane na duḥkhī syā iti coddharṣaṇaṁ kṛtam ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : «Comment aurait-on pu te laisser — toi, le meilleur des soutiens du dharma, roi doté d’une souveraineté semblable à celle d’Indra — souffrir de nouveau dans la forêt ? C’est dans ce but même, afin que tu n’aies pas à endurer encore les peines de l’exil, que je t’ai poussé vers la guerre.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames war-urging as a duty-bound intervention: a righteous king should not be forced into repeated unjust suffering (renewed forest-exile). The ethical claim is that decisive action may be justified when it prevents ongoing adharma and protects rightful order and dignity.
Vaiśampāyana explains the motive behind having encouraged the king toward war: to ensure that, despite being foremost among dharma-upholders and Indra-like in royal stature, he would not have to undergo the misery of returning to forest life again.