Shloka 13
Dhanañjaya-viraha-śoka and the Resolve to Enter Gandhamādana (धनंजय-विरह-शोकः गन्धमादन-प्रवेश-संकल्पश्च)
सततं य: क्षमाशील: क्षिप्पमाणो5प्यणीयसा । ऋजुमार्गप्रपन्नस्य शर्मदाताभयस्य च,जो छोटे लोगोंके आक्षेप करनेपर भी सदा क्षमाशील होनेके कारण उस आक्षेपको सह लेता है तथा सरल मार्गसे अपनी शरणमें आनेवाले लोगोंको सुख पहुँचाकर उन्हें अभयदान देता है, वही अर्जुन, जब कोई कुटिल मार्गका आश्रय ले छल-कपटसे उसपर आघात करना चाहता है तब वह वज्धारी इन्द्र ही क्यों न हो, उसके लिये काल और विषके समान भयंकर हो जाता है
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | satataṃ yaḥ kṣamāśīlaḥ kṣipyamāṇo 'py aṇīyasā | ṛjumārga-prapannasya śarmadātā 'bhayasya ca | sa eva pārtha yadā kaścid vakramārgaṃ samāśritya chala-kapaṭair abhihantuṃ icchati | vajradhara indro 'pi tasya kāla-viṣa-samaṃ bhayaṅkaraḥ bhavati ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “He who is ever patient—who endures even the taunts of the petty—who grants refuge to those who come by the straight path, giving them comfort and freedom from fear: that very man, O Arjuna, when someone resorts to crooked ways and seeks to strike him through deceit and fraud, becomes for that aggressor as dreadful as Death and poison—even if the attacker were Indra himself, wielder of the thunderbolt.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True virtue combines patience with discernment: one should forgive petty insults and protect those who approach honestly, but become uncompromisingly formidable against deceitful aggression. Mercy is for the sincere; sternness is for treachery.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Arjuna, praising the ideal of a noble protector: tolerant toward minor offenders and generous to those who seek refuge, yet terrifying to anyone who attempts harm through crooked, deceitful means—even if the aggressor were as mighty as Indra.