Shloka 13
Bhīṣma’s Counsel on Reconciliation and Partition (भीष्मोपदेशः—संधि-राज्यविभागविचारः)
युधिछिर उवाच न मे वागनृतं प्राह नाधर्मे धीयते मतिः । वर्तते हि मनो मे5त्र नैषो5धर्म: कथंचन
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | na me vāg anṛtaṃ prāha nādharme dhīyate matiḥ | vartate hi mano me 'tra naiṣo 'dharmaḥ kathaṃcana ||
یُدھِشٹھِر نے کہا—میری زبان نے کبھی جھوٹ نہیں بولا اور میری عقل کبھی ادھرم میں نہیں ٹھہرتی۔ پھر بھی اس نکاح کی طرف میرا دل مائل ہو رہا ہے؛ اس لیے یہ کسی طرح بھی ادھرم نہیں۔
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Yudhiṣṭhira frames moral discernment as grounded in lifelong commitments to truthfulness and dharma: if one’s speech is truthful and one’s intellect does not incline to adharma, then a sincere inner inclination—when examined against dharma—need not be condemned as unrighteous.
Yudhiṣṭhira is justifying his willingness toward a particular marriage by appealing to his established character (truthful speech and dharmic judgment) and concluding that his present inclination cannot be adharma.