Shloka 29
Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Duryodhana Saṃvāda on Restraint and Rājānīti
Chapter 50
पुनश्चन तादृशीमेव वापीं जलजशालिनीम् । मत्वा शिलासमां तोये पतितो5स्मि नराधिप,नरेश्वर! मैंने पुन एक वैसी ही बावलीको देखकर, जो कमलोंसे सुशोभित हो रही थी, समझा कि यह भी पहली पुष्करिणीकी भाँति स्फटिकशिलासे पाटकर बराबर कर दी गयी होगी; परंतु वह वास्तवमें जलसे परिपूर्ण थी, इसीलिये मैं भ्रमसे उसमें गिर पड़ा
punaś ca tādṛśīm eva vāpīṃ jalajaśālinīm | matvā śilāsamāṃ toye patito 'smi narādhipa ||
Duryodhana said: “Then again, seeing another well just like the earlier one, adorned with lotuses, I assumed it too had been leveled over with crystal-like stone, appearing as solid ground. But it was truly filled with water; and so, through my delusion, I fell into it, O king.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how pride and hasty assumption (moha) lead to public disgrace; misperception becomes a moral lesson about humility and self-control in a royal court.
In the wondrous hall, Duryodhana mistakes a lotus-filled water-reservoir for a solid, stone-leveled surface and falls in, recounting the incident to the king as an example of being deceived by appearances.