Shloka 8
Bhāgīrathī-tīra-śauca, Kurukṣetra-gamana, and Śatayūpa-āśrama-dīkṣā (गङ्गातीरशौच–कुरुक्षेत्रगमन–शतयूपाश्रमदीक्षा)
कच्चित् स्त्रीबालवृद्धं ते न शोचति न याचते
kaccit strī-bāla-vṛddhaṃ te na śocati na yācate
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Tell me—are the women, children, and the aged in your care not left to grieve, and not forced to beg?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a ruler’s and guardian’s dharma: ensuring that vulnerable dependents—women, children, and the elderly—are protected from destitution. Ethical governance is measured not only by victory or power but by whether the weakest are spared grief and the humiliation of begging.
In the Ashramavāsika context, Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks with anxious concern, asking whether those vulnerable groups connected to the addressed person’s household or realm are being cared for—specifically, whether they are not reduced to sorrow and begging in the aftermath of upheaval.