Shloka 1
Virūpākṣa’s Dāna and Gautama’s Burden — the approach of Rājadharma
अपन ह< बक। ] अति्ऑशाड< चतुःषष्ट्यधिकशततमो< ध्याय: नृशंस अर्थात् अत्यन्त नीच पुरुषके लक्षण युधिछिर उवाच आनृशंस्यं विजानामि दर्शनेन सतां सदा । नृशंसान्न विजानामि तेषां कर्म च भारत
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
Ānṛśaṃsyaṃ vijānāmi darśanena satāṃ sadā |
Nṛśaṃsān na vijānāmi teṣāṃ karma ca Bhārata ||
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «Ô Bhārata, en fréquentant sans cesse les vertueux et en les contemplant, je sais ce qu’est une conduite douce et non cruelle (ānṛśaṃsya). Mais je ne comprends pas vraiment les hommes cruels (nṛśaṃsa), ni les actes qu’ils accomplissent.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral understanding is shaped by one’s company: Yudhiṣṭhira says he has learned kindness (ānṛśaṃsya) through continual contact with the virtuous, but seeks instruction about cruelty (nṛśaṃsatā) and the actions that reveal it—implying that recognizing vice requires deliberate discernment, not merely good intentions.
In Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira initiates a discussion on ethical conduct by admitting his familiarity with gentle behavior learned from the good, and he asks to be taught about cruel, base persons and how their deeds manifest—setting up a didactic explanation of nṛśaṃsa-lakṣaṇas (marks of cruelty).