Shloka 4
Droṇācārya’s Assessment of the Pāṇḍavas: Nīti, Kāla, and Intelligence (विराटपर्व, अध्याय २६)
अस्य वर्षस्य शेषं चेद् व्यतीयुरिह पाण्डवा: । निवृत्तसमयास्ते हि सत्यव्रतपरायणा:
asya varṣasya śeṣaṃ ced vyatīyur iha pāṇḍavāḥ | nivṛttasamayās te hi satyavrataparāyaṇāḥ |
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。「もしパーンダヴァたちが、この年の残りをも同じようにここで過ごし切るなら、定められた期限は完全に満たされる。彼らは真実の誓いに堅固だからだ。かくして誓約を果たせば、約束の重荷から解き放たれ—正義の怒りに燃えて、必ずやカウラヴァたちに苦患をもたらすであろう。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma as fidelity to one’s pledged word: the Pāṇḍavas are portrayed as satyavrata—committed to truth and vow-keeping—so that once the stipulated term is completed, their subsequent action against wrongdoing becomes ethically grounded rather than impulsive.
Vaiśampāyana reflects that if the Pāṇḍavas successfully spend the remaining part of the year in Virāṭa’s realm without violating the conditions of their exile, their term will be fulfilled; freed from the constraint of the vow, they will then be poised to bring severe trouble upon the Kauravas.