Shloka 129
आनुशंस्यं परो धर्म: परमार्थाच्च मे मतम् | आनृशंस्यं चिकीर्षामि नकुलो यक्ष जीवतु,यक्ष! मेरा ऐसा विचार है कि वस्तुतः अनृशंसता (दया तथा समता) ही परम धर्म है। यही सोचकर मैं सबके प्रति दया और समानभाव रखना चाहता हूँ; इसलिये नकुल ही जीवित हो जाय
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
Ānuśaṃsyaṃ paro dharmaḥ paramārthāc ca me matam |
Ānṛśaṃsyaṃ cikīrṣāmi—Nakulo yakṣa jīvatu ||
Yakṣa! me evam ālocitaṃ yat vastutaḥ ānṛśaṃsyam (dayā-samatā) eva paramo dharmaḥ; tena sarveṣu dayāṃ samabhāvaṃ ca kartum icchāmi; tasmāt Nakula eva jīvatām ||
Yudhiṣṭhira nói: “Lòng từ bi, không tàn nhẫn, chính là dharma tối thượng—đó là niềm tin đã định của ta, đặt trên lợi ích tối cao. Ta muốn hành xử bằng lòng nhân và sự công bằng; vì vậy, hỡi Yakṣa, xin cho Nakula được sống.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Yudhiṣṭhira identifies compassion/non-cruelty (ānuśaṃsya/ānṛśaṃsya) as the highest dharma and treats it as a practical ethical rule: one should act with kindness and fairness even under pressure, valuing humane conduct as the truest measure of righteousness.
In the Yakṣa episode, Yudhiṣṭhira is questioned by a Yakṣa after his brothers fall. When granted a choice to revive one brother, he asks that Nakula be restored to life, justifying the choice through the principle that compassion and equitable regard are supreme dharma.