Shloka 2
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
मर्यादासु विनष्टास क्षुभिते धर्मनिश्चये । राजशि: पीडिते लोके परैर्वापि विशाम्पते
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | maryādāsu vinaṣṭāsu kṣubhite dharma-niścaye | rājaṛṣiḥ pīḍite loke parair vāpi viśāmpate ||
युधिष्ठिर ने पूछा—प्रजानाथ! जब आचरण की मर्यादाएँ नष्ट हो जाएँ, धर्म का निश्चय डावाँडोल हो उठे, और लोग पीड़ित हों—चाहे राजर्षि के द्वारा या शत्रु-पक्ष के द्वारा—हे प्रजापालक! ऐसे अधम समय में ब्राह्मण किस वृत्ति से जीवन धारण करे?
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical problem: when social norms collapse and dharma becomes uncertain, even the traditionally protected and duty-bound brāhmaṇa must ask what livelihood is permissible. It highlights that dharma is context-sensitive and that extreme disorder forces careful re-evaluation of right means of living.
In Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira questions a royal authority (addressed as ‘viśāmpati’) about governance and moral order. Here he describes a time of widespread oppression and confusion about dharma and asks what a brāhmaṇa should do to sustain life under such conditions.