Shloka 2
अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal
विदुरे चापि संसिद्धि धर्मराजं व्यपाश्रिते । वसत्सु पाण्डुपुत्रेषु सर्वेष्वाश्रममण्डले
vidure cāpi saṁsiddhiṁ dharmarājaṁ vyapāśrite | vasatsu pāṇḍuputreṣu sarveṣv āśramamaṇḍale ||
Janamejaya said: “When Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the lord of the earth, set out for forest-dwelling together with his queen Gāndhārī and his daughter-in-law Kuntī, and when Vidura—having attained spiritual perfection—entered into the person of Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira, while all the sons of Pāṇḍu were living in the precincts of the hermitage, how did that wondrous event occur which the radiant Vyāsa had foretold, saying, ‘I shall reveal an astonishing occurrence’? Please tell me.”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the movement from worldly roles to spiritual culmination: elders embrace renunciation, and Vidura’s ‘siddhi’ signifies inner realization that ultimately seeks refuge in dharma itself—embodied by Yudhiṣṭhira. It frames dharma not merely as rule-following but as a living principle that can ‘receive’ and preserve wisdom when the realized withdraw from ordinary life.
Janamejaya asks Vaiśaṁpāyana to explain a marvel foretold by Vyāsa: after Dhṛtarāṣṭra departs for the forest with Gāndhārī and Kuntī, Vidura attains perfection and enters into Yudhiṣṭhira, while the Pāṇḍavas reside in the hermitage precinct. The question sets up the account of how this extraordinary event took place.