Shloka 226
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproof and Vow-Logic: On Dice-Deception, Exile Terms, and the Governance of Anger
Adhyāya 35
बुद्धया वीर्येण संयुक्त: श्रुेतेनाभिजनेन च । महाराज! आपने राजधर्मका वर्णन तो सुना ही होगा, जैसा मनुजीने कहा है। फिर क्रूर, मायावी, हमारे हितके विपरीत आचरण करनेवाले तथा अशान्तचित्तवाले दुरात्मा धृतराष्ट्रपुत्रोंका अपराध आप क्यों क्षमा करते हैं? पुरुषसिंह! आप बुद्धि, पराक्रम, शास्त्रज्ञान तथा उत्तम कुलसे सम्पन्न होकर भी जहाँ कुछ काम करना है, वहाँ अजगरकी भाँति चुपचाप क्यों बैठे हैं?
bhīmasena uvāca | buddhyā vīryeṇa saṃyuktaḥ śrutena abhijanena ca | mahārāja! āpane rājadharmakā varṇana to sunā hī hogā, yathā manujīne kahā hai | punaḥ krūra-māyāvinaḥ asmākaṃ hita-viparīta-ācāriṇaḥ aśānta-citta-vantaḥ durātmā dhṛtarāṣṭra-putrāṇāṃ aparādhaṃ bhavān kathaṃ kṣamate? puruṣa-siṃha! bhavān buddhi-parākrama-śāstrajñāna-uttama-kula-sampannaḥ san yatra kiñcit kartavyaṃ tatra ajagara iva tūṣṇīṃ-bhūtaḥ kutaḥ upaviśati?
Bhima disse: “Ó grande rei! Dotado de inteligência e valor, amparado pelo saber e por nobre nascimento—certamente ouviste a exposição do dever régio, como o declarou Manu. Por que, então, perdoas as ofensas dos filhos de Dhritarashtra—homens cruéis e ardilosos, que agem contra o nosso bem, inquietos de mente e perversos de coração? Ó leão entre os homens! Embora possuas discernimento, bravura, conhecimento das escrituras e excelente linhagem, por que permaneces calado como uma píton quando há obra que deve ser feita?”
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Royal duty (rājadharma) requires active protection of justice and the welfare of one’s people; forgiving repeated, harmful wrongdoing out of passivity is portrayed as a failure of kingship, even when one has learning, lineage, and personal virtue.
Bhima confronts the addressed king (in the Pandava context, typically Yudhiṣṭhira), criticizing his continued forbearance toward Dhritarashtra’s sons. He invokes Manu’s authority on rājadharma and uses the ‘python-like silence’ metaphor to urge decisive action against the Kauravas’ hostile conduct.