Shloka 25
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 141: Bhīma–Hiḍimba Confrontation and Protective Discourse
प्रज्ञाचक्षुरचक्षुष्टवाद् धृतराष्ट्रो जनेश्वर: । राज्यं न प्राप्तवान् पूर्व स कथं नृपतिर्भवेत्,वे कहते, 'प्रज्ञाचक्षु महाराज धृतराष्ट्र नेत्रहीन होनेके कारण जब पहले ही राज्य न पा सके, तब (अब) वे कैसे राजा हो सकते हैं
prajñācakṣur acakṣuṣṭvād dhṛtarāṣṭro janeśvaraḥ | rājyaṃ na prāptavān pūrva sa kathaṃ nṛpatir bhavet |
Sie sagten: „Dhṛtarāṣṭra, obgleich ein Herr unter den Menschen, heißt ‘der, dessen Sehen Weisheit ist’, weil er leiblich blind ist. Wenn er schon früher wegen dieser Blindheit das Reich nicht erhielt, wie sollte er jetzt König werden?“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames kingship as a matter of established eligibility and prior decision: if Dhṛtarāṣṭra was earlier denied sovereignty due to blindness, it is ethically and procedurally inconsistent to install him later. It highlights the tension between personal worth (being a ‘lord among men’) and institutional criteria for rule.
Vaiśampāyana reports an argument about succession in the Kuru line: Dhṛtarāṣṭra, being blind, had not previously received the kingdom; therefore the speaker questions how he could now be made king. The line reflects the political reasoning used in the succession deliberations.