Yudhishthira on Dharma in Times of Distress

Verse 1 (5.28.1)

असंशयं सञ्जय सत्यमेत- । द्धर्मो वरः कर्मणां यत्त्वमात्थ । ज्ञात्वा तु मां सञ्जय गर्हयेस्त्वं । यदि धर्मं यद्यधर्मं चरामि ॥

asaṃśayaṃ sañjaya satyameta- | ddharmo varaḥ karmaṇāṃ yattvamāttha | jñātvā tu māṃ sañjaya garhayestvaṃ | yadi dharmaṃ yadyadharmaṃ carāmi

No doubt, Sanjaya, what you say is true: dharma is the best of all actions. But come to know me first, Sanjaya, and then blame me — whether it is dharma or adharma that I practise.

Verse 2 (5.28.2)

यत्राधर्मो धर्मरूपाणि धत्ते । धर्मः कृत्स्नो दृश्यतेऽधर्मरूपः । बिभ्रद्धर्मो धर्मरूपं तथा च । विद्वांसस्तं संप्रपश्यन्ति बुद्ध्या ॥

yatrādharmo dharmarūpāṇi dhatte | dharmaḥ kṛtsno dṛśyate'dharmarūpaḥ | bibhraddharmo dharmarūpaṃ tathā ca | vidvāṃsastaṃ saṃprapaśyanti buddhyā

There are times when adharma wears the forms of dharma, and when dharma, whole and entire, appears in the form of adharma; and again there is dharma bearing its own true form. The wise discern which is which by their understanding.

Note on the text: Corrected दृश्यतो → दृश्यते (misprint in Wikisource; ो for े; the critical edition reads dṛśyate). The first and third lines differ from the critical edition (5.28.2ac) — recension variants, kept.

Verse 3 (5.28.3)

एवं तथैवापदि लिङ्गमेत- । द्धर्माधर्मौ नित्यवृत्ती भजेताम् । आद्यं लिङ्गं यस्य तस्य प्रमाण- । मापद्धर्मं सञ्जय तं निबोध ॥

evaṃ tathaivāpadi liṅgameta- | ddharmādharmau nityavṛttī bhajetām | ādyaṃ liṅgaṃ yasya tasya pramāṇa- | māpaddharmaṃ sañjaya taṃ nibodha

So it is in times of distress: the marks of the classes remain as they are, while dharma and adharma, ever present, take them up by turns. Yet the first mark is authority only for him whose mark it is. Know this, Sanjaya, as the dharma of distress.

Verse 4 (5.28.4)

लुप्तायां तु प्रकृतौ येन कर्म । निष्पादयेत्तत्परीप्सेद्विहीनः । प्रकृतिस्थश्चापदि वर्तमान । उभौ गर्ह्यौ भवतः सञ्जयैतौ ॥

luptāyāṃ tu prakṛtau yena karma | niṣpādayettatparīpsedvihīnaḥ | prakṛtisthaścāpadi vartamāna | ubhau garhyau bhavataḥ sañjayaitau

When a man's natural means of living is wholly lost, he, being destitute, should seek out the means by which he can still carry out his duties. But the man in his natural state who acts as if in distress, and the man in distress who acts as if in his natural state — both of these, Sanjaya, deserve blame.

Verse 5 (5.28.5)

अविनाशमिच्छतां ब्राह्मणानां । प्रायश्चित्तं विहितं यद्विधात्रा । संपश्येथाः कर्मसु वर्तमानान् । विकर्मस्थान्सञ्जय गर्हयेस्त्वम् ॥

avināśamicchatāṃ brāhmaṇānāṃ | prāyaścittaṃ vihitaṃ yadvidhātrā | saṃpaśyethāḥ karmasu vartamānān | vikarmasthānsañjaya garhayestvam

The Creator ordained expiation for brahmins who would not have their standing destroyed. So, Sanjaya, look well at those who keep to their proper work and at those who take up work not their own, before you censure.

Verse 6 (5.28.6)

मनीषिणां सत्त्विच्छेदनाय । विधीयते सत्सु वृत्तिः सदैव । अब्राह्मणाः सन्ति तु ये न वैद्याः । सर्वोत्सङ्गं साधु मन्येत तेभ्यः ॥

manīṣiṇāṃ sattvicchedanāya | vidhīyate satsu vṛttiḥ sadaiva | abrāhmaṇāḥ santi tu ye na vaidyāḥ | sarvotsaṅgaṃ sādhu manyeta tebhyaḥ

For the wise who seek to sever the self from all that binds it, a livelihood among the good is always ordained. But for those who are not brahmins and are not men of knowledge, one should hold that full engagement in their own duties is right.

Note on the text: Corrected विधियते → विधीयते (misprint in Wikisource; short for long vowel; the critical edition and the commentary read vidhīyate).

Verse 7 (5.28.7)

तदध्वानः पितरो ये च पूर्वे । पितामहा ये च तेभ्यः परेऽन्ये । यज्ञैषिणो ये च हि कर्म कुर्यु- । र्नान्यं ततो नास्तिकोऽस्मीति मन्ये ॥

tadadhvānaḥ pitaro ye ca pūrve | pitāmahā ye ca tebhyaḥ pare'nye | yajñaiṣiṇo ye ca hi karma kuryu- | rnānyaṃ tato nāstiko'smīti manye

Our fathers who went before, and the grandfathers, and those still earlier, who sought sacrifice and did their work — all walked this same path. I acknowledge no other; to think otherwise, I hold, would make me an unbeliever.

Verse 8 (5.28.8)

यत्किंचनेदं वित्तमस्यां पृथिव्यां । यद्देवानां त्रिदशानां परं यत् । प्राजापत्यं त्रिदिवं ब्रह्मलोकं । नाधर्मतः सञ्जय कामयेयम् ॥

yatkiṃcanedaṃ vittamasyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ | yaddevānāṃ tridaśānāṃ paraṃ yat | prājāpatyaṃ tridivaṃ brahmalokaṃ | nādharmataḥ sañjaya kāmayeyam

Whatever wealth there is on this earth, whatever belongs to the thirty gods, and whatever lies beyond — the world of Prajapati, heaven, the world of Brahma — I would not desire it, Sanjaya, through adharma.

Verse 9 (5.28.9)

धर्मेश्वरः कुशलो नीतिमांश्चा- । प्युपासिता ब्राह्मणानां मनीषी । नानाविधांश्चैव महाबलांश्च । राजन्यभोजाननुशास्ति कृष्णः ॥

dharmeśvaraḥ kuśalo nītimāṃścā- | pyupāsitā brāhmaṇānāṃ manīṣī | nānāvidhāṃścaiva mahābalāṃśca | rājanyabhojānanuśāsti kṛṣṇaḥ

Krishna, lord of dharma, skilled and wise in policy, who honours brahmins and is deeply thoughtful, guides kings and Bhojas of many kinds and of great strength.

Verse 10 (5.28.10)

यदि ह्यहं विसृजन्साम गर्ह्यो । नियुध्यमानो यदि जह्यां स्वधर्मम् । महायशाः केशवस्तद्ब्रवीतु । वासुदेवस्तूभयोरर्थकामः ॥

yadi hyahaṃ visṛjansāma garhyo | niyudhyamāno yadi jahyāṃ svadharmam | mahāyaśāḥ keśavastadbravītu | vāsudevastūbhayorarthakāmaḥ

If I am to be blamed for abandoning conciliation, or if by fighting I would forsake my own dharma, let the glorious Keshava say so — Vasudeva, who wishes well to both sides.

Note on the text: Corrected विसृजत्साम → विसृजन्साम (misprint in Wikisource; the participle must be the nominative विसृजन्, as the critical edition reads visṛjan). Wikisource divides the line as विसृजन् साम गर्ह्यः ("blameworthy for abandoning conciliation") where the critical edition has visṛjan syām agarhyo — a recension variant, kept.

Verse 11 (5.28.11)

शैनेयोऽयं चेदयश्चान्धकाश्च । वार्ष्णेयभोजाः कुकुराः सृञ्जयाश्च । उपासीना वासुदेवस्य बुद्धिं । निगृह्य शत्रून्सुहृदो नन्दयन्ति ॥

śaineyo'yaṃ cedayaścāndhakāśca | vārṣṇeyabhojāḥ kukurāḥ sṛñjayāśca | upāsīnā vāsudevasya buddhiṃ | nigṛhya śatrūnsuhṛdo nandayanti

This grandson of Shini, the Chedis and the Andhakas, the Varshneyas and the Bhojas, the Kukuras and the Srinjayas, following Vasudeva's counsel, subdue their foes and gladden their friends.

Verse 12 (5.28.12)

वृष्ण्यन्धका ह्युग्रसेनादयो वै । कृष्णप्रणीताः सर्व एवेन्द्रकल्पाः । मनस्विनः सत्यपरायणाश्च । महाबला यादवा भोगवन्तः ॥

vṛṣṇyandhakā hyugrasenādayo vai | kṛṣṇapraṇītāḥ sarva evendrakalpāḥ | manasvinaḥ satyaparāyaṇāśca | mahābalā yādavā bhogavantaḥ

The Vrishnis and Andhakas, Ugrasena and the rest, guided by Krishna, are all like Indra — the Yadavas, high-minded, devoted to truth, mighty and prosperous.

Verse 13 (5.28.13)

काश्यो बभ्रुः श्रियमुत्तमां गतो । लब्ध्वा कृष्णं भ्रातरमीशितारम् । यस्मै कामान्वर्षति वासुदेवो । ग्रीष्मात्यये मेघ इव प्रजाभ्यः ॥

kāśyo babhruḥ śriyamuttamāṃ gato | labdhvā kṛṣṇaṃ bhrātaramīśitāram | yasmai kāmānvarṣati vāsudevo | grīṣmātyaye megha iva prajābhyaḥ

Babhru, king of Kashi, reached the highest prosperity by gaining Krishna as his brother and lord — Vasudeva, who showers his desires upon him as a cloud showers rain on creatures at the end of summer.

Note on the text: Corrected प्रजाऽभ्यः → प्रजाभ्यः (misprint in Wikisource; stray avagraha; the critical edition reads prajābhyaḥ).

Verse 14 (5.28.14)

ईदृशोऽयं केशवस्तात विद्वान् । विद्धि ह्येनं कर्मणां निश्चयज्ञम् । प्रियश्च नः साधुतमश्च कृष्णो । नातिक्रामे वचनं केशवस्य ॥

īdṛśo'yaṃ keśavastāta vidvān | viddhi hyenaṃ karmaṇāṃ niścayajñam | priyaśca naḥ sādhutamaśca kṛṣṇo | nātikrāme vacanaṃ keśavasya

Such, my friend, is Keshava, the wise one; know him to be one who understands the right resolution of every undertaking. Krishna is dear to us and the best of the good; I will not go against Keshava's word.