Shloka 32
Draupadī’s Lament and Theodicy: Dharma, Dice, and Īśvara’s Governance (Āraṇyaka-parva 31)
त्वमात्मनो विजानीहि जन्म कृष्णे यथा श्रुतम् वेत्थ चापि यथा जातो धृष्टद्युम्न: प्रतापवान्,धर्म निष्फल नहीं होता। अधर्म भी अपना फल दिये बिना नहीं रहता। विद्या और तपस्याके भी फल देखे जाते हैं। कृष्णे! तुम अपने जन्मके प्रसिद्ध वृत्तान्तको ही स्मरण करो। तुम्हारा प्रतापी भाई धृष्टद्युम्न जिस प्रकार उत्पन्न हुआ है, यह भी तुम जानती हो
tvam ātmano vijānīhi janma kṛṣṇe yathā śrutam | vettha cāpi yathā jāto dhṛṣṭadyumnaḥ pratāpavān || dharmo niṣphalo na bhavati | adharmo 'pi svaphalaṃ adātvā na tiṣṭhati | vidyā-tapasoḥ phalāni 'pi dṛśyante | kṛṣṇe! tvam sva-janma-prasiddha-vṛttāntaṃ smara | tava pratāpī bhrātā dhṛṣṭadyumnaḥ yathā utpannaḥ, tad api tvaṃ jānāsi ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O Kṛṣṇā, recall for yourself the well-known account of your own birth, just as it has been heard and handed down. You also know how your mighty brother Dhṛṣṭadyumna came into being. Dharma never becomes fruitless; and adharma, too, does not remain without yielding its result. The fruits of learning and of austerity are likewise seen. Therefore, remember your own celebrated origin—and you know as well the manner in which your valiant brother was born.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts moral causality: dharma inevitably bears beneficial fruit, and adharma also inevitably yields its (harmful) result. It further affirms that learning (vidyā) and austerity (tapas) are not wasted—their outcomes are observable—encouraging steadfastness in righteous conduct even amid suffering.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Draupadī (called Kṛṣṇā), urging her to remember the renowned circumstances of her own birth and that of her brother Dhṛṣṭadyumna. By invoking their extraordinary origins, he frames their present hardship within a larger moral and providential order where actions and virtues inevitably bear results.