Shloka 4
धौन्धुमारोपाख्यानम्
Dhaundhumāra-Upākhyāna: The Slaying of Dhundhu and the Epithet ‘Dhundhumāra’
क्रूर: कौरव्य मृदवे मृदुः क्रूरे च कौरव । साधुश्नासाधवे साधु: साधवे नाप्लुयात् कथम्
krūraḥ kauravya mṛdave mṛduḥ krūre ca kaurava | sādhuś ca asādhave sādhuḥ sādhave nāpluyāt katham ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O son of the Kuru line, be harsh toward the harsh, and gentle toward the gentle. Let the good be good even to the wicked; but how could one who is good fail to be good toward the good?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ethical discernment in conduct: respond firmly to cruelty and gently to gentleness, while maintaining the inner standard of goodness—especially, goodness naturally expresses itself toward the good.
Vaiśaṃpāyana, in the course of his narration, addresses a Kuru prince with a maxim on proper behavior, contrasting how one should relate to the cruel, the gentle, the wicked, and the virtuous.