Shloka 25

धृतराष्ट्रस्य पश्चात्तापः तथा वनप्रस्थानानुज्ञा | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Remorse and Request for Forest-Retirement

Devanagari script

दोषांश्न मन्त्रभेदस्य ब्रूयास्त्वं मन्त्रिमण्डले

Transliteration

doṣān śna mantrabhedasya brūyās tvaṃ mantrimaṇḍale

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “In the council of ministers, you should state the faults that arise from the breach of counsel (the divulging of confidential deliberations).”

Word by Word

• दोषान्: faults, defects
• दोषान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दोष
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• मन्त्रभेदस्य: of the disclosure/divulging of counsel (breach of secrecy)
• मन्त्रभेदस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्त्रभेद
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• ब्रूयाः: you should say/tell
• ब्रूयाः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: ब्रू (ब्रवीति)
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), Second, Singular, Parasmaipada

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: त्वद्
• Form: —, Nominative, Singular

• मन्त्रिमण्डले: in the council of ministers
• मन्त्रिमण्डले: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्त्रिमण्डल
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• mantrimaṇḍala (council of ministers)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Confidential counsel is a pillar of righteous governance; revealing deliberations (mantrabheda) leads to serious defects—loss of trust, strategic harm, and moral decline—so its dangers should be clearly articulated before ministers.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, introduces an instruction directed to someone addressing a ministerial assembly: the speaker is to explain the harmful consequences of divulging confidential counsel within the sphere of royal administration.