धिग् अस्तु नष्टः खलु भारतानां; धर्मस् तथा क्षत्रविदां च वृत्तम् ॥
यत्राभ्यतीतां कुरुधर्मवेलां; प्रेक्षन्ति सर्वे कुरवः सभायाम् ॥
द्रोणस्य भीष्मस्य च नास्ति सत्त्वं; ध्रुवं तथैवास्य महात्मनो ऽपि ॥
राज्ञस् तथा हीमम् अधर्मम् उग्रं; न लक्षयन्ते कुरुवृद्धमुख्याः ॥
dhig astu naṣṭaḥ khalu bhāratānāṃ; dharmas tathā kṣatravidāṃ ca vṛttam ||
yatrābhyatītāṃ kurudharmavelāṃ; prekṣanti sarve kuravaḥ sabhāyām ||
droṇasya bhīṣmasya ca nāsti sattvaṃ; dhruvaṃ tathaivāsya mahātmano 'pi ||
rājñas tathā hīmam adharmam ugraṃ; na lakṣayante kuruvṛddhamukhyāḥ ||
[Draupadi:] "Shame! Truly the dharma of the Bharatas has perished, and likewise the conduct of those versed in kshatra duty, since all the Kurus in this assembly merely look on as the bounds of Kuru dharma are transgressed. Surely there is no [moral] strength left in Drona and Bhishma, nor likewise, it seems, in that great-souled one [Vidura], nor in the king [Dhritarashtra]; for the foremost of the Kuru elders fail to take note of this fierce unrighteousness."
a9afe9ca7019 · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:03:37 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Draupadi indicts not only the violator but the silent righteous: "there is no [moral] strength in Drona and Bhishma." It is telling that she lays blame on the witnesses no less than on the wrongdoer: the complicity of the good is more terrible than the boldness of the wicked. The verse teaches that silence before lawlessness is complicity: where elders, having the power to stop it, merely look on, dharma "perishes" through their silence. And "no strength" (sattva) here means not physical but moral strength: what they lack is not valor but resolve to stand for what is right. Whoever, seeing violation and able to intervene, stays silent shares in it; and the judgment of history is as severe on witnesses as on perpetrators — for evil triumphs through the tolerance of the good.