Shloka 29
कर्णस्य मन्त्रः — Duryodhana-प्रति नीति-विचारः
Karna’s Counsel on Strategy toward the Pāṇḍavas
युधिछिर उवाच सूक्ष्मो धर्मो महाराज नास्य विद्यो वयं गतिम् । पूर्वेषामानुपूर्व्येण यातं वर्त्मनुयामहे,युधिष्ठिरने कहा--महाराज! धर्मका स्वरूप अत्यन्त सूक्ष्म है, हम उसकी गतिको नहीं जानते। पूर्वकालके प्रचेता आदि जिस मार्गसे गये हैं, उसीका हमलोग क्रमश: अनुसरण करते हैं
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | sūkṣmo dharmo mahārāja nāsya vidmo vayaṃ gatim | pūrveṣām ānupūrvyeṇa yātaṃ vartmānuyāmahe ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O great king, Dharma is exceedingly subtle; we do not truly know its course. Therefore we follow, step by step, the very path that the ancients before us have taken.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is not always obvious or mechanically definable; recognizing its subtlety, one should proceed with humility and rely on the tested guidance of exemplary predecessors and established tradition.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king and admits the difficulty of discerning Dharma’s true course; he justifies his stance by saying that he follows the sequential path taken by the ancients.