तत्र केच् चिद् ब्रुवन्ति स्म ब्राह्मणा निर्भयास् तदा ॥
शोचमानाः पाण्डुपुत्रान् अतीव भरतर्षभ ॥
विषमं पश्यते राजा सर्वथा तमसावृतः ॥
धृतराष्ट्रः सुदुर्बुद्धिर् न च धर्मं प्रपश्यति ॥
न हि पापम् अपापात्मा रोचयिष्यति पाण्डवः ॥
भीमो वा बलिनां श्रेष्ठः कौन्तेयो वा धनंजयः ॥
कुत एव महाप्राज्ञौ माद्रीपुत्रौ करिष्यतः ॥
तद् राज्यं पितृतः प्राप्तं धृतराष्ट्रो न मृष्यते ॥
अधर्मम् अखिलं किं नु भीष्मो ऽयम् अनुमन्यते ॥
विवास्यमानान् अस्थाने कौन्तेयान् भरतर्षभान् ॥
tatra kec cid bruvanti sma brāhmaṇā nirbhayās tadā ||
śocamānāḥ pāṇḍuputrān atīva bharatarṣabha ||
viṣamaṃ paśyate rājā sarvathā tamasāvṛtaḥ ||
dhṛtarāṣṭraḥ sudurbuddhir na ca dharmaṃ prapaśyati ||
na hi pāpam apāpātmā rocayiṣyati pāṇḍavaḥ ||
bhīmo vā balināṃ śreṣṭhaḥ kaunteyo vā dhanaṃjayaḥ ||
kuta eva mahāprājñau mādrīputrau kariṣyataḥ ||
tad rājyaṃ pitṛtaḥ prāptaṃ dhṛtarāṣṭro na mṛṣyate ||
adharmam akhilaṃ kiṃ nu bhīṣmo 'yam anumanyate ||
vivāsyamānān asthāne kaunteyān bharatarṣabhān ||
"There some fearless brahmins, grieving over the sons of Pandu, said: 'The king sees crookedly, wholly wrapped in darkness; Dhritarashtra, of evil mind, does not perceive dharma. For the sinless Yudhishthira will not desire sin, nor Bhima, foremost of the strong, nor Dhananjaya, still less the wise sons of Madri. That kingdom, obtained from their father, Dhritarashtra does not tolerate belonging to the Pandavas; how does this Bhishma permit such utter unrighteousness — that the sons of Kunti, the bulls of Bharata, are wrongfully being exiled?'"
60f3cf9dd5e9 · published Jul 12, 2026, 5:03:09 PM UTC
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Here the voice of conscientious brahmins openly denounces wrongdoing. Telling is their fearless directness: they condemn the king aloud, unafraid of his wrath — for such is the duty of a brahmin, to expose the wrongdoing of power. It is seen here that truth does not fall silent even before a throne: where dharma is trampled, the righteous raise their voice. Telling too is the comparison of Dhritarashtra's blindness with "darkness" (tamas): his bodily blindness has merged with a spiritual one — he "does not see dharma". Telling also is the people's bewilderment about Bhishma: they marvel that a mighty righteous man permits evil. Here arises the bitter question that will hang over the whole epic: the silence and compliance of good men before the evil of rulers is itself complicity; and Bhishma, having bound himself by duty to the throne, has yet to bear the weight of this silence.