Shloka 37
Gautama–Śakra Saṃvāda: Karma, Loka-bheda, and the Restoration of the Elephant
सुधारिणां धर्मधुरे महात्मनां यथोदिते वर्त्मनि सुस्थितानाम् | धर्मात्मनामुद्वहतां गति तां परं गन्ता धृतराष्ट्रो न तत्र
sudhāriṇāṃ dharmadhure mahātmanāṃ yathodite vartmani susthitānām | dharmātmanām udvahatāṃ gatiṃ tāṃ paraṃ gantā dhṛtarāṣṭro na tatra ||
Gautama said: “Those great-souled men who bear well the yoke of dharma, firmly established on the path as it has been taught, and who carry out righteous duties—such people attain that exalted goal. Dhṛtarāṣṭra will not go to that very state; he will reach a realm even higher than that.”
गौतम उवाच
Educational Q&A
Steadfastly bearing the responsibilities of dharma and remaining established on the taught path leads to an exalted spiritual destination; yet Gautama indicates Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s destiny will not be identical to that group’s, but described as even higher.
Gautama is instructing/assuring Dhṛtarāṣṭra about the fruits of righteous conduct: he first praises the dharmic path and its attainments for the righteous, then distinguishes Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s outcome as different—‘not there’—and points to a superior attainment for him.