Shloka 4
Bhīṣma’s Counsel on Reconciliation and Partition (भीष्मोपदेशः—संधि-राज्यविभागविचारः)
ततो मुहूर्तान्मधुरां वाणीमुच्चार्य पार्षत: । पप्रच्छ त॑ महात्मान द्रौपद्यर्थ विशाम्पते
tato muhūrtān madhurāṃ vāṇīm uccārya pārṣataḥ | papraccha taṃ mahātmānaṃ draupady-arthaṃ viśāṃpate, rājan |
やがてしばらくして、プṛṣataの子ドゥルパダ王は柔らかな声で語り、偉大なるヴィヤーサにドラウパディのことを問いかけた。いかにして一人の女が、多くの男たちの正法（ダルマ）にかなう正妻となり得るのか、しかもサンカラ（saṅkara――社会秩序と血統の混乱・混淆）の過失を招かぬようにするにはどうすべきか、正法に基づき明らかに説いてほしいと願った。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical-dharmic problem: extraordinary marital arrangements must be justified within dharma so that they do not produce saṅkara (social and genealogical disorder). It highlights the Mahābhārata’s method of resolving moral tension through inquiry to a qualified authority (a ṛṣi) and through careful reasoning about duty, lineage, and social stability.
After a brief pause, King Drupada speaks respectfully and asks the sage Vyāsa to explain the dharmic basis for Draupadī becoming the wife of multiple men, seeking assurance that no fault—especially the charge of saṅkara—will arise from such a marriage.