Shloka 4

याज्ञसेनी-प्रश्नः

Draupadī’s Question in the Assembly

Devanagari script

गृहे वसन्तं गोमायु त्वं वै मोहान्न बुध्यसे । दुर्योधनस्य रूपेण शृणु काव्यां गिरं मम

Transliteration

gṛhe vasantaṃ gomāyu tvaṃ vai mohān na budhyase | duryodhanasya rūpeṇa śṛṇu kāvyāṃ giraṃ mama, rājan |

Translation

قال فيدورا: «إن ابنَ آوى يقيم في بيتك أنت، ومع ذلك لا تعرفه من فرط الوهم. إنه يسكن هناك في هيئة دُريودَهَنَة. فاسمع، أيها الملك، كلماتي—نصيحةً مستمدةً من حكمة شُكْرَاتْشَارْيَا—لكي تُبصر الخطر الكامن في الدار وتختار سبيل الحكم القائم على الدارما.»

Word by Word

• {'gṛhe': 'in the house, at home', 'vasantam': 'dwelling, residing', 'gomāyuḥ': 'jackal (a metaphor for a destructive, deceitful presence)', 'tvam': 'you', 'vai': 'indeed, surely', 'mohāt': 'from delusion, due to infatuation/confusion', 'na budhyase': 'you do not understand/realize', 'duryodhanasya': 'of Duryodhana', 'rūpeṇa': 'in the form/guise of', 'śṛṇu': 'listen', 'kāvyām giram': 'a well-crafted/wise utterance

• counsel expressed in refined speech', 'mama': 'my', 'rājan': 'O King'}

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• Duryodhana
• King (Dhṛtarāṣṭra, implied)
• Śukrācārya (implied by the Hindi gloss)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura warns that moral blindness (moha) prevents a ruler from recognizing danger within his own household. The verse teaches discernment and the duty of a king to identify and restrain destructive tendencies—especially when they appear in the guise of one’s own kin.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Sabha Parva context, Vidura addresses the king and points to Duryodhana as an internal threat, using the metaphor of a jackal living in the house. He urges the king to listen to wise counsel (nīti), implying that failure to act will lead to ruin.