Mahabharata 32: There's No Ship To Heaven Like Virtue Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

O Daughter of Drupad,
There's no boat like virtue
To those hailed by heaven's hue,
To sea-faring merchants as is ship,
It is to them taking ocean trip.
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Here is the transliteration of the original verse:

dharma iva plavah na anyahsvargam draupadi gacċhatām |
sah eva nauh sāgarasya evavaņijah pāram icċhatah || vana 31-24 ||

In response to what Draupadi said, Yudhishthir gave his long take on dharma. He emphasized that everyone in this world should pursue his dharma. He was as always obsessed with dharma. In his obsession he often tended to interpret dharma in a narrow sense. Kings and warriors play a game of dice, and accepting invitation for one may be a norm (dharma): but not blind-folded to the consequences. Then again, what he can and cannot stake, he lost sight of the discretion. One can draw many instances.

In fact, one might have noticed that most key characters in this epic were obsessed with something or the other. Let us take only a few examples.

Bheeshma was obsessed with his vow of celibacy and loyalty to the throne; the blind Dritarashtra was purblind in the love for his no good son, fond love becoming his weakness; his wife Gandhari decided to blindfold her eyes in true sati-hood! In fact, it would have been more appropriate had she not done so, deciding instead to become the eyes and ears for her husband who was virtually deprived of both. Karna was blind in his friendship with Duryodhan and in his sense of obligation for a favour done. In a way he was also obsessed with a grudge that Kunti, his biological mother rejected him right from birth. Drona, knowledgeable otherwise, saw only his enmity with Drupad and the ambition to be one up with him who slighted him years back. So was Shakuni dead against Bheeshma for a perceived slight to his kingdom. The list is quite long.

Topic: sea, ship, virtue, heaven