Mahabharata 3.52.8 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 52, Shloka 8
Nala’s Embassy to Damayantī and the Gods’ Proposal (नलस्य दूतत्वं देवप्रस्तावश्च)
योडसौ गच्छति धर्मात्मा बहून् क्लेशान् विचिन्तयन् । भवतन्नियोगाद् बीभत्सुस्ततो दुःखतरं नु किम्
yo ’sau gacchati dharmātmā bahūn kleśān vicintayan | bhavatāṃ niyogād bībhatsus tato duḥkhataraṃ nu kim ||
Disse Vaiśampāyana: “Aquele de alma reta—Bībhatsu (Arjuna)—partiu para praticar austeridades por tua ordem, revolvendo na mente muitas provações. Que tristeza poderia ser maior do que essa?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of dharma-driven action: a righteous person may accept severe hardship when duty and obedience to rightful instruction demand it, and such self-chosen suffering becomes a measure of the situation’s gravity.
Vaiśampāyana remarks that Arjuna—called Bībhatsu—has departed for austerities on the instruction of others, while contemplating many difficulties; the speaker frames this as an extreme form of sorrow, implying that circumstances have become painfully demanding for the righteous.
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