Shloka 13
जयद्रथ-निग्रहः — Jayadratha Restrained, Shamed, and Released
स एवमुक्तो नृपतिमुवाच द्विजसत्तम: । (ब्राह्मणै:ः सहितो राजन् ये तत्रासन् समागता: ।) न स शक््य: क्रतुश्रेष्ठो जीवमाने युधिष्ठिरे
sa evam ukto nṛpatim uvāca dvijasattamaḥ | (brāhmaṇaiḥ sahito rājan ye tatrāsan samāgatāḥ |) na sa śakyaḥ kratuśreṣṭho jīvamāne yudhiṣṭhire
Ainsi interpellé, le plus éminent des deux-fois-nés s’adressa au roi. Avec les brāhmaṇa rassemblés en ce lieu, il dit : «Ô roi, tant que Yudhiṣṭhira vit encore, ce sacrifice suprême ne peut être accompli.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the highest ritual act must align with dharma and rightful circumstance; when a legitimate moral authority (here, Yudhiṣṭhira) is still living, certain grand undertakings are deemed improper or impossible to perform in a dharmically valid way.
Vaiśampāyana reports that an eminent Brahmin, together with other assembled Brahmins, addresses a king and declares that the ‘best of sacrifices’ cannot be performed while Yudhiṣṭhira is still alive—implying a constraint rooted in legitimacy and ritual-ethical conditions.