Shloka 7
Bhīṣma’s Counsel on Reconciliation and Partition (भीष्मोपदेशः—संधि-राज्यविभागविचारः)
दुपद उवाच अधर्मो5यं मम मतो विरुद्धो लोकवेदयो: । न होका विद्यते पत्नी बहूनां द्विजसत्तम
dupada uvāca: adharmo ’yaṃ mama mato viruddho lokavedayoḥ | na hy ekā vidyate patnī bahūnāṃ dvijasattama ||
Dupada berkata: “Menurut penilaianku ini adalah adharma, sebab bertentangan dengan kebiasaan dunia dan norma Weda. Tak ada di dunia, wahai yang terbaik di antara para dvija, bahwa banyak pria memiliki satu istri.”
दुपद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dupada frames dharma as accountable to both śāstra (Veda) and accepted social practice (loka), rejecting a marital arrangement that, in his view, violates both normative authorities.
In the discussion surrounding Draupadī’s marriage, Dupada objects to the idea of one woman being wife to multiple men, calling it adharma and appealing to worldly custom and Vedic sanction.