Shloka 12
Vipula’s Guru-Obedience, Divine Flowers, and the Peril of Others’ Oaths (विपुलोपाख्यानम्—पुष्पप्राप्तिः शपथ-प्रसङ्गश्च)
इमा: प्रजा महाबाहो धार्मिक्य इति न: श्रुतम्
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: imāḥ prajā mahābāho dhārmikyā iti naḥ śrutam; tathāpi striyaḥ satkṛtā apy asatkṛtā vā sadāiva puruṣāṇāṃ manasi vikāraṃ janayanti. tāsāṃ rakṣāṃ kaḥ kartum arhati? eṣa me mahān saṃśayaḥ.
ユディシュティラは言った。「大臂の勇者よ。われらは聞いている——これらの存在、すなわち女は本性としてダルマに篤い、と。サーヴィトリーらの生涯がそれを明らかにした。だが、敬われようと辱められようと、彼女らは絶えず男の心に乱れを起こさせる。では、いったい誰が真に彼女らを護り得るのか。これこそ我が心を悩ます大いなる疑いである。」
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical dilemma: even when women are regarded as dharmic, social honor alone does not prevent moral agitation in men; therefore the deeper issue is self-restraint and responsible conduct, alongside just social protection.
Yudhiṣṭhira, in a didactic dialogue of the Anuśāsana Parva, raises a doubt to his interlocutor (addressed as “mahābāho”): how to reconcile the traditional praise of women’s dharma (with Sāvitrī as an exemplar) with the observed fact that men’s minds are easily disturbed, and who can truly ensure women’s protection.