Shloka 20
Adhyāya 3: Indra’s Invitation and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Refusal to Abandon the Dog
Svargārohaṇa Test
बेटा! पूर्वकालमें द्वैतववनके भीतर रहते समय भी एक बार मैंने तुम्हारी परीक्षा ली थी; जब कि तुम्हारे सभी भाई पानी लानेके लिये उद्योग करते हुए मारे गये थे ।। भीमार्जुनौ परित्यज्य यत्र त्वं भ्रातरावुभौ । मात्रो: साम्यमभीप्सन् वै नकुलं जीवमिच्छसि
bhīmārjunau parityajya yatra tvaṃ bhrātarāv ubhau | mātroḥ sāmyam abhīpsan vai nakulaṃ jīvam icchasi ||
Dharmarāja said: “Earlier, when we were living in the Dvaitavana forest, I once tested you—at the time when all your brothers, striving to fetch water, had fallen. There, setting aside Bhīma and Arjuna, you chose to save Nakula, desiring fairness between the two mothers.”
धर्मरज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma as impartial justice: Yudhiṣṭhira praises the choice grounded in fairness to both mothers (Kuntī and Mādrī), showing that ethical decisions should not be driven only by strength, utility, or personal preference, but by equity and duty.
Yudhiṣṭhira recalls an earlier forest episode in Dvaitavana when his brothers collapsed while seeking water. In that crisis he tested the moral discernment of his kin; the remembered choice was to save Nakula—despite Bhīma and Arjuna being more powerful—because it preserved balance between the two maternal lines.