Shloka 5
Adhyāya 16 — Daiva, Kṣatriya-dharma, and Public Reassurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
कथं धर्मभृतां श्रेष्ठोी राजा त्वं वासवोपम: । पुनर्वने न दु:खी स्या इति चोद्धर्षणं कृतम्,तुम धर्मात्माओंमें श्रेष्ठ और इन्द्रके समान ऐश्वर्यशशाली राजा होकर पुन: वनवासका कष्ट न भोगो, इसी उद्देश्यसे मैंने तुम्हें युद्धके लिये उत्साहित किया था
kathaṁ dharmabhṛtāṁ śreṣṭho rājā tvaṁ vāsavopamaḥ | punar vane na duḥkhī syā iti coddharṣaṇaṁ kṛtam ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「どうしてあなた——ダルマを支える者のうち最上で、インドラに比すべき王権を備えた王——が、再び森で苦しむことなどあろうか。まさにこの目的、すなわち再度の流謫の苦難を負わずに済むようにと、わたしはあなたを戦へと駆り立てたのだ。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames war-urging as a duty-bound intervention: a righteous king should not be forced into repeated unjust suffering (renewed forest-exile). The ethical claim is that decisive action may be justified when it prevents ongoing adharma and protects rightful order and dignity.
Vaiśampāyana explains the motive behind having encouraged the king toward war: to ensure that, despite being foremost among dharma-upholders and Indra-like in royal stature, he would not have to undergo the misery of returning to forest life again.