Shloka 6
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 34 — Vidura’s Counsel on Deliberation, Speech-Discipline, and Dharmic Kingship
स्वयंवरे स्थिता कन्या केशिनी नाम नामतः । रूपेणाप्रतिमा राजन् विशिष्टपतिकाम्यया
svayaṃvare sthitā kanyā keśinī nāma nāmataḥ | rūpeṇāpratimā rājan viśiṣṭa-pati-kāmyayā ||
বিদুৰে ক’লে—হে ৰাজন! এক সময় কেশিনী নামৰ এগৰাকী কন্যা স্বয়ংবৰ সভাত উপস্থিত আছিল। ৰূপত তাই অতুলনীয়া, আৰু অতি শ্ৰেষ্ঠ পতি বাছি ল’বলৈ ইচ্ছা কৰি আহিছিল।
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the dharmic ideal that marriage—especially among rulers—should be guided by merit and worthiness (viśiṣṭa-pati), not merely by impulse or power. It frames choice as ethically oriented toward excellence and suitability.
Vidura begins an illustrative account: a uniquely beautiful maiden named Keśinī appears in a svayaṃvara assembly, intending to select the best possible husband. This sets up a moral or political exemplum within Vidura’s counsel to the king.