द्रुपद उवाच
अधर्मो ऽयं मम मतो विरुद्धो लोकवेदयोः ॥
न ह्य् एका विद्यते पत्नी बहूनां द्विजसत्तम ॥
न चाप्य् आचरितः पूर्वैर् अयं धर्मो महात्मभिः ॥
न च धर्मो ऽप्य् अनेकस्थश् चरितव्यः सनातनः ॥
अतो नाहं करोम्य् एवं व्यवसायं क्रियां प्रति ॥
धर्मसंदेहसंदिग्धं प्रतिभाति हि माम् इदम् ॥
drupada uvāca
adharmo 'yaṃ mama mato viruddho lokavedayoḥ ||
na hy ekā vidyate patnī bahūnāṃ dvijasattama ||
na cāpy ācaritaḥ pūrvair ayaṃ dharmo mahātmabhiḥ ||
na ca dharmo 'py anekasthaś caritavyaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
ato nāhaṃ karomy evaṃ vyavasāyaṃ kriyāṃ prati ||
dharmasaṃdehasaṃdigdhaṃ pratibhāti hi mām idam ||
Drupada said: 'This is unrighteous, in my opinion, contrary to the world and the Veda; for one wife does not exist for many, O best of the twice-born; nor was this custom observed by the great-souled ones of old; and the eternal dharma should not be practiced so that a wife belongs to many husbands. Therefore I do not resolve upon this deed, for it appears to me clouded by doubt about dharma.'
e7386c1e4a3f · published Jul 12, 2026, 5:44:41 PM UTC
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Here ordinary dharma objects with good reason, through the mouth of a pious man. It is telling that Drupada relies on three arguments: scripture, the absence of precedent among the ancients, and the unchanging nature of eternal dharma. Here his doubt proves holy, for it guards the sanctity of the law: an exception must be proven, not assumed. Thus scripture shows the force of the general rule, and the higher exception that Vyasa will reveal will carry all the more weight for it.