Shloka 29

Devanagari script

अथाब्रवीन्महाप्राज्ञो विदुर: सर्वधर्मवित्‌ । एतदन्तास्तु भरता यद्‌ व: कृष्णा सभां गता,तदनन्तर सब धर्मोके ज्ञाता परम बुद्धिमान्‌ विदुरने कहा--“भरतवंशियो! यह कृष्णा जो तुम्हारी सभामें लायी गयी, यही तुम्हारे विनाशका कारण होगा। यह जो पांचालराजकी पुत्री है, वह परम उत्तम लक्ष्मी ही है। देवताओंकी आज्ञासे ही पांचाली इन पाण्डवोंकी सेवा करती है

Transliteration

athābravīn mahāprājño viduraḥ sarvadharmavit | etadantāstu bharatā yad vaḥ kṛṣṇā sabhāṃ gatā ||

Translation

Then Vidura, the supremely wise knower of all dharma, spoke: “O Bharatas, this will be the end-result for you—this very act, that Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī) has been brought into your assembly.”

Word by Word

अथthen/thereupon

अब्रवीत्said/spoke

महाप्राज्ञःvery wise

विदुरःVidura

सर्वधर्मवित्knower of all dharmas

एतदन्ताःhaving this as the end/result

तुbut/indeed

भरताःO Bharatas (descendants of Bharata)

यत्that/which

वःof you/your

कृष्णाKrishna (Draupadi)

सभाम्assembly hall

गताgone/has gone (was brought)

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

Bharatas (Kuru assembly)

Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī)

Sabhā (royal assembly hall)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura teaches that adharma committed in the king’s court—especially the public dishonoring of a righteous woman—destroys the moral legitimacy of rule and inevitably ripens into collective ruin. A polity that normalizes injustice in its sabhā invites its own downfall.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Kuru assembly, after Draupadī has been brought into the hall, Vidura intervenes with a grave warning. He tells the Bharatas that this very event—bringing Kṛṣṇā into the sabhā—will become the decisive cause leading to their end.