Shloka 4

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच एवमुक्त: स राजर्षिर्धर्मराजेन धीमता । कौन्तेयं समनुज्ञातुमियेष भरतर्षभ,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--भरतश्रेष्ठ! बुद्धिमान्‌ धर्मराज युधिष्ठिरके ऐसा कहनेपर राजर्षि धृतराष्ट्रने कुन्तीकुमारसे जानेके लिये अनुमति लेनेकी इच्छा की और कहा -- यदा दुर्योधनेनेदं भुक्ते राज्यमकण्टकम्‌

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca

evam uktaḥ sa rājarṣir dharmarājena dhīmatā |

kaunteyaṁ samanugñātum iyeṣa bharatarṣabha ||

…

yadā duryodhanenedaṁ bhukte rājyam akaṇṭakam ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: O bull among the Bharatas, when the wise Dharmarāja (Yudhiṣṭhira) had spoken thus, the royal sage Dhṛtarāṣṭra wished to seek permission from the son of Kuntī (Yudhiṣṭhira) to depart. He began to speak, recalling the time when Duryodhana had enjoyed the kingdom without obstruction—setting the moral frame for his own withdrawal and accountability after the ruin brought by adharma.

Word by Word

• {'evam': 'thus, in this manner', 'uktaḥ': 'having been spoken to

• addressed', 'sa': 'he, that (person)', 'rājarṣiḥ': 'royal sage

• a king of saintly disposition', 'dharmarājena': 'by Dharmarāja (Yudhiṣṭhira)

• by the king devoted to dharma', 'dhīmatā': 'by the intelligent, wise one', 'kaunteyam': 'the son of Kuntī

• Yudhiṣṭhira (also a general epithet for the Pāṇḍavas)', 'samanugñātum': 'to obtain full permission/leave

• to take consent respectfully', 'iyeṣa': 'desired, intended', 'bharatarṣabha': 'O best of the Bharatas (honorific address)', 'yadā': 'when', 'duryodhanena': 'by Duryodhana', 'idam': 'this', 'bhukte': 'was enjoyed/ruled over

• experienced as possession', 'rājyam': 'kingdom, sovereignty', 'akaṇṭakam': 'without thorn/obstacle

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Dharmarāja (Yudhiṣṭhira)
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Kuntī
• Duryodhana
• Bharatas (dynasty)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even a king must act within dharma: major life-transitions (like withdrawal/renunciation) are undertaken with humility and consent, and are framed by honest remembrance of how unchecked power (akaṇṭaka-rājya) can enable adharma and lead to ruin.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Yudhiṣṭhira speaks, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, described as a rājarṣi, wishes to take leave from Yudhiṣṭhira (the Kaunteya) to depart—beginning a reflective statement that looks back to the period when Duryodhana ruled without opposition.