Shloka 8
अध्याय २९ — वासुदेव–संजय संवादः
Karma, Varṇa-Dharma, and the Ethics of Governance
स्वाध्यायिनो ब्राह्मणा भिक्षवश्न तपस्विनो ये च नित्या वनेषु । अभिवाद्या वै मद्धचनेन वृद्धा- स्तथेतरेषां कुशलं वदेथा:
svādhyāyino brāhmaṇā bhikṣavaś ca tapassvino ye ca nityā vaneṣu | abhivādyā vai madvacanena vṛddhās tathetareṣāṁ kuśalaṁ vadethāḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Überbringe in meinem Namen ehrerbietige Grüße den Brāhmaṇas, die dem vedischen Selbststudium ergeben sind, den Bettelmönchen und den Asketen, die beständig in den Wäldern wohnen. Erweise den Ältesten die gebührende Ehre und erkundige dich auch bei allen anderen nach ihrem Wohlergehen.“
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid political crisis, dharma is upheld through humility and social responsibility: honoring Vedic learners, renunciants, and elders, and maintaining bonds of care by asking after others’ welfare.
Yudhiṣṭhira instructs a messenger (implicitly) to convey his salutations to religious and senior members of society—Brāhmaṇas devoted to study, mendicants, forest ascetics, and elders—and to inquire about the well-being of everyone else.