Shloka 22
Draupadī’s Lament and Theodicy: Dharma, Dice, and Īśvara’s Governance (Āraṇyaka-parva 31)
यस्य नार्ष प्रमाणं स्याच्छिष्टाचारक्ष भाविनि । न वै तस्य परो लोको नायमस्तीति निश्चय:,भाविनि! जिसकी दृष्टिमें ऋषियोंके वचन और शिष्ट पुरुषोंके आचार प्रमाणभूत नहीं हैं, उसके लिये न यह लोक है और न परलोक, यह तत्त्ववेत्ता महापुरुषोंका निश्चय है
yasya nārṣa-pramāṇaṁ syāc chiṣṭācāra-kṣa-bhāvini | na vai tasya paro loko nāyam astīti niścayaḥ ||
Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “O marangal na ginang, para sa taong hindi tumatanggap sa patotoo ng mga rishi bilang may kapangyarihan, ni hindi ginagawang pamantayan ang kinaugaliang asal ng mga mabubuti—ayon sa pasya ng mga nakakabatid ng katotohanan—wala para sa kanya ni ang daigdig na ito ni ang susunod. Ang gayong tao’y naiiwang walang matibay na sandigan para sa buhay, tungkulin, at kahulugan.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma requires reliable standards: the testimony of the ṛṣis (ārṣa-pramāṇa) and the lived example of the virtuous (śiṣṭācāra). Rejecting both leaves a person without any coherent basis for right action or for affirming meaning in either this life or the next.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a noble lady in a moral discussion, emphasizing that those who dismiss seer-authority and exemplary social conduct become unmoored from dharma, effectively forfeiting the ordered goods of both worldly life and the hope of the beyond.