युधिष्ठिरकृष्णसंवादः — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Appeal and Kṛṣṇa’s Assurance
Droṇa-parva, Adhyāya 59
असंख्येया गुणा यस्मिन्नासन्नमिततेजसि । यश्षतुर्दश वर्षाणि निदेशात् पितुरच्युत:
asaṅkhyeyā guṇā yasminn āsann amitatajasi | yaḥ caturdaśa varṣāṇi nideśāt pitur acyutaḥ ||
Nārada said: “In him of immeasurable splendor dwelt countless virtues. Obedient to his father’s command, that infallible one lived for fourteen years (in exile), exemplifying steadfast self-restraint and filial duty.”
नारद उवाच
The verse upholds dharma through the ideal of obedience to rightful parental command and the cultivation of innumerable virtues; true greatness is shown not only by power but by disciplined adherence to duty even when it demands hardship.
Nārada praises a supremely radiant figure, emphasizing that he possessed countless virtues and that, following his father’s instruction, he spent fourteen years away—an allusion to the well-known motif of a righteous hero accepting exile as an act of duty.