Shloka 12
एते हि सर्वे कुरव: समेता: क्षान्ता दान्ता: सुद्रविणोपपन्ना: । एषां वृणीष्वैकतमं पतित्वे न त्वां तपेत् कालविपर्ययोड्यम्,“ये समस्त कौरव क्षमाशील, जितेन्द्रिय तथा उत्तम धन-वैभवसे सम्पन्न हैं। इन्हींमेंसे किसीको अपना पति चुन लो, जिससे यह विपरीत काल ([निर्धनावस्था) तुम्हें संतप्त न करे
ete hi sarve kuravaḥ sametāḥ kṣāntā dāntāḥ sudraviṇopapannāḥ | eṣāṃ vṛṇīṣvaikatamaṃ patitve na tvāṃ tapet kālaviparyayodyam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “All these Kurus are gathered here—patient, self-restrained, and endowed with excellent wealth. Choose any one of them as your husband, so that this adverse turn of time—this rise of misfortune and poverty—may not torment you.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a pragmatic ethical counsel: when fortune turns adverse, one may seek stability through a socially sanctioned alliance with those known for patience, self-restraint, and material capability—qualities presented as safeguards against the suffering caused by a reversal of time (kālaviparyaya).
In Vaiśampāyana’s narration, someone is being advised to select a husband from among the assembled Kurus, who are described as virtuous and wealthy, so that she will not be distressed by an unfavorable change in circumstances, especially poverty.