Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproof and Vow-Logic: On Dice-Deception, Exile Terms, and the Governance of Anger
Adhyāya 35
अस्माभिरुषिता: सम्यगूवने मासास्त्रयोदश । परिमाणेन तान् पश्य तावत: परिवत्सरान्,हमने अबतक वनमें ठीक-ठीक तेरह महीने व्यतीत कर लिये हैं, आप इन्हींको परिमाणमें तेरह वर्ष समझ लीजिये
asmābhir uṣitāḥ samyag vane māsās trayodaśa | parimāṇena tān paśya tāvataḥ parivatsarān |
Sinabi ni Bhīmasena: “Tunay ngang namuhay kami sa gubat sa loob ng labintatlong buwan. Ngayon, sa pagbibilang, ituring mo ang mga buwang iyon na katumbas ng labintatlong taon.”
भीमसेन उवाच
The verse highlights how obligations and conditions (like vows or terms of exile) are argued through ‘parimāṇa’—reckoning and interpretation. Bhīma’s stance emphasizes substantive fulfillment and fairness over overly rigid technical readings.
Bhīma asserts that the Pandavas have already spent thirteen months in the forest and urges that this be treated, by a certain reckoning, as satisfying a thirteen-year requirement—pressing the case that their period of hardship should count as completed.