Shloka 8
Draupadī’s Lament and Theodicy: Dharma, Dice, and Īśvara’s Governance (Āraṇyaka-parva 31)
धर्मो यस्याभिशड्क््य: स्यादार्ष वा दुर्बलात्मन: | वेदाच्छूद्र इवापेयात् स लोकादजरामरात्,जो धर्मके विषयमें संदेह रखता है अथवा जो दुर्बलात्मा पुरुष वेदादि शास्त्रोंपर अविश्वास करता है, वह जरा-मृत्युरहित परमधामसे उसी प्रकार वंचित रहता है, जैसे शाद्र वेदोंके अध्ययनसे
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | dharmo yasyābhiśaṅkyaḥ syād ārṣo vā durbalātmanaḥ | vedāc chūdra ivāpeyāt sa lokād ajarāmarāt ||
Yudhiṣṭhira disse: “Se uma pessoa de ânimo fraco passa a duvidar do dharma—ou mesmo do ensinamento dos ṛṣis—se desconfia do Veda e dos śāstras, então é excluída do supremo reino, sem velhice nem morte, assim como um Śūdra é impedido do estudo védico.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Doubting dharma and distrusting the Veda/ṛṣi-tradition is portrayed as spiritually ruinous: such skepticism blocks access to the highest, deathless goal. The verse uses a social analogy (exclusion from Vedic study) to stress the seriousness of rejecting śāstric authority.
In Vana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira is engaged in reflective discourse on dharma and its foundations. Here he articulates a warning: a weak-minded person who suspects dharma or dismisses Vedic authority becomes ineligible for the supreme, ageless realm—illustrated through the familiar comparison of being barred from Vedic learning.