Shloka 15
Nārada’s Exempla of Tapas and Assurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra (नारदोपदेशः—तपःसिद्ध्युदाहरणम्)
एवं स राजा धर्मात्मा परीत्याश्रममण्डलम् | वसु विश्राण्य तत् सर्व पुनरायान्महीपति:
evaṁ sa rājā dharmātmā parītyāśramamaṇḍalam | vasu viśrāṇya tat sarvaṁ punar āyān mahīpatiḥ ||
So kehrte jener rechtschaffene König, nachdem er den Kreis der Einsiedeleien abgeschritten und all jenen Reichtum verteilt hatte, wieder zurück—als Herr der Erde—zum Āśrama Dhṛtarāṣṭras. Die Szene betont ein Königtum, das durch Dharma gezügelt ist: Macht zeigt sich nicht im Horten, sondern im ehrerbietigen Besuch und im freigebigen Geben an jene, die das asketische Leben führen.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharmic kingship: a ruler’s virtue is shown through humility toward ascetic communities and through generous redistribution of wealth, treating resources as a trust to be shared rather than possessed.
Yudhiṣṭhira visits the surrounding hermitages, gives away the wealth he has brought, and then returns to the hermitage where Dhṛtarāṣṭra is staying.