Shloka 40
Nāradasya Rājadharma-praśnāḥ
Nārada’s Examination of Royal Ethics
कच्चिद् विनयसम्पन्न: कुलपुत्रो बहुश्रुतः । अनसूयुरनुप्रष्टा सत्कृतस्ते पुरोहित:
kaccid vinayasampannaḥ kulaputro bahuśrutaḥ | anasūyur anupraṣṭā satkṛtas te purohitaḥ ||
Nārada asks: “Is your purohita well-trained in humility and discipline, born of a good family, and widely learned? Is he free from fault-finding and able to inquire and deliberate properly in matters of sacred learning? And do you honor him with due respect?”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s dharma is strengthened by keeping a learned, humble, non-censorious purohita and by honoring him. Ethical governance requires disciplined scholarship, constructive inquiry, and respect for principled counsel.
Narada, in a sequence of diagnostic questions about good rule and household order, asks whether the king maintains a qualified royal priest-adviser and treats him with proper honor—implying that neglect of such guidance harms dharma and statecraft.