Shloka 112
Nāradasya Rājadharma-praśnāḥ
Nārada’s Examination of Royal Ethics
युधिछिर उवाच कथं वै सफला वेदा: कथं वै सफलं धनम् | कथं वै सफला दारा: कथं वै सफल श्रुतम्
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca kathaṃ vai saphalā vedāḥ kathaṃ vai saphalaṃ dhanam | kathaṃ vai saphalā dārāḥ kathaṃ vai saphalaṃ śrutam ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “In what way do the Vedas truly bear fruit? In what way does wealth become fruitful? In what way is a wife (and married life) considered fruitful? And in what way does learning—what one has heard and studied—become fruitful?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharma-centered inquiry: sacred knowledge, wealth, marriage, and learning are not valuable merely by possession; they become “fruitful” only when aligned with righteous conduct and used for proper ends—self-discipline, duty, and the welfare of others.
Yudhiṣṭhira, seeking clarity on practical dharma, asks a sage-like interlocutor how four pillars of life—Vedic knowledge, wealth, marital partnership, and learning—should be understood as truly successful, i.e., producing their intended moral and social results.