Shloka 17
Adhyāya 16 — Daiva, Kṣatriya-dharma, and Public Reassurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
भुक्तं राज्यफलं पुत्रा भर्तुर्मे विपुलं पुरा । महादानानि दत्तानि पीत:ः सोमो यथाविधि,पुत्रो! मैंने पूर्वकालमें अपने स्वामी महाराज पाण्डुके विशाल राज्यका सुख भोग लिया है, बड़े-बड़े दान दिये हैं और यज्ञमें विधिपूर्वक सोमपान भी किया है इति श्रीमहाभारते आश्रमवासिके पर्वणि आश्रमवासपर्वणि कुन्तीवाक्ये सप्तदशो<ड्ध्याय:
vaiśampāyana uvāca | bhuktaṃ rājyaphalaṃ putrā bhartur me vipulaṃ purā | mahādānāni dattāni pītaḥ somo yathāvidhi |
Vaiśampāyana said: “O sons, in former times I fully enjoyed the abundant fruits of sovereignty belonging to my lord. I have given great gifts in charity, and in sacrifice I have duly drunk the Soma according to prescribed rule.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores accountability and completion of worldly duties: Kuntī recalls having already enjoyed royal prosperity, performed major charities, and followed Vedic rites properly—implying that one should not cling to privilege but recognize when the fruits of worldly life have been duly experienced and when it is time to turn toward restraint and renunciation.
In the Āśramavāsika context, Kuntī addresses her sons while reflecting on her past life with Pāṇḍu: she reminds them that she has already lived through the full measure of royal life—its enjoyments, its public generosity, and its sacrificial obligations—setting the emotional and ethical ground for withdrawal from courtly life toward the forest stage.