Shloka 14
नारदेन धृतराष्ट्रगतिवर्णनम् | Nārada’s Account of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Future Course
तपोबलव्ययं कृत्वा सुचिरात् सम्भृतं तदा । माण्डव्येनर्षिणा धर्मो ह्भिभूत: सनातन:,“माण्डव्य ऋषिने चिरकालसे संचित किये हुए तपोबलका क्षय करके सनातन धर्मदेवको (शाप देकर) पराभूत किया था
tapo-balavyayaṁ kṛtvā sucirāt sambhṛtaṁ tadā | māṇḍavyenārṣiṇā dharmo 'bhibhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana nói: “Sau khi làm cho sức lực khổ hạnh tích tụ suốt thời gian dài hao kiệt, hiền giả Māṇḍavya đã chế ngự Đấng Dharma vĩnh cửu—bằng lời nguyền—vào khi ấy.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between impersonal, rule-bound punishment and lived justice: even Dharma, as the embodiment of righteousness, can be challenged when justice is applied without sensitivity to innocence and proportionality; tapas empowers moral agency, but its use (e.g., cursing) also carries spiritual cost.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that the sage Māṇḍavya, drawing upon long-accumulated ascetic power, expends it and thereby subdues Dharma—specifically by pronouncing a curse—marking a confrontation between an aggrieved ascetic and the deity of justice.