Shloka 226
धृतराष्ट्रस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति व्यवहार-रक्षा-नियमनोपदेशः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Instruction on Administration, Punishment, and Daily Governance
क्व तदा द्रोणभीष्मौ तौ सोमदत्तो5पि वाभवत् | “उन दिनों धृतराष्ट्रका हमारे प्रति स्नेह कहाँ चला गया था? जब तुम्हारे आभरण एवं आभूषण उतार लिये गये और तुम काले मृगचर्मसे अपने शरीरको ढँककर द्रौपदीके साथ राजाके समीप गये
kva tadā droṇabhīṣmau tau somadatto 'pi vābhavat |
Vaiśampāyana disse: “Onde estavam então Droṇa e Bhīṣma? E para onde havia ido também Somadatta?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
That dharma is not upheld merely by status or reputation: when injustice occurs, the failure to intervene—especially by respected elders—becomes an ethical lapse. The verse frames absence/inaction as culpable when protection and counsel are required.
The speaker points to a past moment of crisis and humiliation and asks rhetorically where the great elders—Droṇa, Bhīṣma, and Somadatta—were then. The question underscores that those who should have restrained wrongdoing did not effectively act.