Shloka 593
गदायुद्धप्रतिज्ञा — The Vow and Terms of the Mace Duel
धर्मतो याचमानानां प्रशमार्थ कुलस्य न: । अब तो तुम स्वयं ही इस पृथ्वीके स्वामी नहीं रहे; फिर इसका दान कैसे करना चाहते हो? राजन! जब हम लोग कुलमें शान्ति बनाये रखनेके लिये पहले धर्मके अनुसार अपना ही राज्य माँग रहे थे
dharmato yācamānānāṁ praśamārthaṁ kulasya naḥ | adya tvaṁ svayam eva pṛthivyāḥ svāmī na bhavasi; tarhi tasyā dānaṁ kathaṁ kartum icchasi? rājan! yadā vayaṁ kulasya śāntiṁ dhārayituṁ pūrvaṁ dharmataḥ svam eva rājyaṁ yācāmāhe, tadā tvaṁ kuto naitad pṛthivīṁ asmabhyaṁ prāyacchaḥ ||
坚战（Yudhiṣṭhira）说道：“当初我们依循法（dharma）请求本应属于我们的份地，只为使宗族重归安宁，你为何那时不把这片土地赐与我们？如今你已不再是大地之主，又怎能还想把它当作‘施与’？大王，当我们最初为维系家族和合而依法请求自己的国土时，你为何在那时拒绝把这大地给我们？”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A gift is ethically meaningful only when one has legitimate authority over what is given; dharma demands timely justice and reconciliation. Yudhiṣṭhira highlights that refusing a rightful, peace-seeking request and later offering the same thing without sovereignty is morally incoherent.
In the Shalya Parva context, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a kingly figure and challenges the logic of ‘donating’ the earth after losing true lordship over it, reminding him that earlier the Pāṇḍavas had asked lawfully for their own share to preserve family peace, but were denied.