Shloka 69
Vāraṇāvata-prasaṃsā and the Pāṇḍavas’ Departure (वरणावत-प्रशंसा तथा पाण्डव-प्रयाणम्)
आसीत् सख्य॑ द्विजश्रेष्ठ त्वया मे5र्थनिबन्धनम् । न हानाढ्य: सखाढ्यस्य नाविद्वान् विदुष: सखा
āsīt sakhyaṁ dvijaśreṣṭha tvayā me 'rthanibandhanam | na hānāḍhyaḥ sakhāḍhyasya nāvidvān viduṣaḥ sakhā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O best of twice-born, the friendship I once had with you was bound up with self-interest. For a poor man cannot truly be the friend of a wealthy man, nor an unlearned man the friend of a learned one.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse critiques interest-based companionship and asserts that friendships often follow social asymmetries of wealth and learning; it highlights how status and competence can condition relationships, raising an ethical question about what constitutes genuine friendship.
In Vaiśampāyana’s narration, a speaker (within the larger episode) dismisses an earlier bond as self-interested and argues that a poor person cannot be a true friend to the rich, nor the unlearned to the learned—framing a rejection of claims based on past friendship.