Shloka 21
Adhyāya 16 — Daiva, Kṣatriya-dharma, and Public Reassurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
निवर्तस्व कुरुश्रेष्ठ भीमसेनादिभि: सह । धर्मे ते धीयतां बुद्धिर्मनस्तु महदस्तु च,कुरुश्रेष्ठ! तुम भीमसेन आदिके साथ लौट जाओ। तुम्हारी बुद्धि धर्ममें लगी रहे और तुम्हारा हृदय विशाल (अत्यन्त उदार) हो
nivartasva kuruśreṣṭha bhīmasenādibhiḥ saha | dharme te dhīyatāṁ buddhir manas tu mahad astu ca ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Return, O best of the Kurus, together with Bhīmasena and the others. Let your understanding be firmly set in dharma, and let your heart be great—broad and generous.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse urges a return from extreme grief or withdrawal into a steadier path: keep one’s discernment anchored in dharma and cultivate a magnanimous heart. Ethical clarity (buddhi in dharma) and inner largeness (mahat manas) are presented as the proper response to suffering and responsibility.
In the Āśramavāsika context, the speaker reports counsel directed to a leading Kuru figure: he is asked to turn back and go together with Bhīma and the others, rather than remain apart. The instruction frames the return as morally guided—grounded in dharma and marked by generosity of spirit.