Shloka 18
Vidura’s Message to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: Authorization for Dāna and Public Welfare (विदुरवाक्यम्—दानानुज्ञा)
तव शुश्रूषया चैव गान्धार्याश्व यशस्विनी । भर्तु: सलोकतामेषा गमिष्यति वधूस्तव
tava śuśrūṣayā caiva gāndhāryāś ca yaśasvinī | bhartuḥ salokatām eṣā gamiṣyati vadhūs tava ||
Nārada said: “Through your devoted service—and through her own faithful attendance upon Gāndhārī—your illustrious daughter-in-law will attain the same world as her husband. By such selfless care for elders and steadfast loyalty, she is destined to share her lord’s posthumous state.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Faithful service (śuśrūṣā)—especially toward elders like Gāndhārī—is presented as a powerful form of dharma that bears spiritual fruit, here described as attaining the same posthumous realm as one’s husband (salokatā).
Nārada foretells the spiritual outcome for the ‘vadhū’ (daughter-in-law): because of her devoted attendance on Gāndhārī and the service rendered within the household, she will attain her husband’s world after death.