Shloka 14
नारदेन धृतराष्ट्रगतिवर्णनम् | Nārada’s Account of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Future Course
तपोबलव्ययं कृत्वा सुचिरात् सम्भृतं तदा । माण्डव्येनर्षिणा धर्मो ह्भिभूत: सनातन:,“माण्डव्य ऋषिने चिरकालसे संचित किये हुए तपोबलका क्षय करके सनातन धर्मदेवको (शाप देकर) पराभूत किया था
tapo-balavyayaṁ kṛtvā sucirāt sambhṛtaṁ tadā | māṇḍavyenārṣiṇā dharmo 'bhibhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : «Après avoir épuisé la puissance d’ascèse amassée durant de très longues années, le sage Māṇḍavya domina alors le Seigneur éternel, Dharma—par une malédiction—et le vainquit ainsi.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between impersonal, rule-bound punishment and lived justice: even Dharma, as the embodiment of righteousness, can be challenged when justice is applied without sensitivity to innocence and proportionality; tapas empowers moral agency, but its use (e.g., cursing) also carries spiritual cost.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that the sage Māṇḍavya, drawing upon long-accumulated ascetic power, expends it and thereby subdues Dharma—specifically by pronouncing a curse—marking a confrontation between an aggrieved ascetic and the deity of justice.