Shloka 13
'पृथ्वीनाथ! आप सम्पूर्ण देवताओं, अतिथियों और पितरोंसे परित्यक्त होकर अकर्मण्य हो घर छोड़ रहे हैं ।। यस्त्वं त्रैविद्यवृद्धानां ब्राह्मणानां सहस्रश: । भर्ता भूत्वा च लोकस्य सोड्द्य तैर्भतिमिच्छसि,अमी च धर्मकामास्त्यां क्षत्रिया: पर्युपासते । त्वदाशामभिकांक्षन्त: कृपणा: फलहेतुका: 'ये धर्मकी इच्छा रखनेवाले क्षत्रिय जो सदा आपकी सेवामें बैठे रहते हैं, आपसे बड़ी- बड़ी आशाएँ रखते हैं, इन बेचारोंको सेवाका फल चाहिये
pṛthvīnātha! āpa sampūrṇa devatāoṃ, atithiyoṃ aura pitṛoṃ se parityakta hokara akarmaṇya ho ghara choṛa rahe haiṃ. yastvaṃ traividyavṛddhānāṃ brāhmaṇānāṃ sahasraśaḥ bhartā bhūtvā ca lokasya soḍḍhya tair bhatim icchasi, amī ca dharmakāmāstyāṃ kṣatriyāḥ paryupāsate tvadāśām abhikāṅkṣantaḥ kṛpaṇāḥ phalahetukāḥ.
Arjuna said: “O lord of the earth! You are abandoning your duties and leaving home, as though forsaken by all the gods, by guests who depend on your hospitality, and by the ancestors who rely on your rites. You who have long been the supporter of thousands of venerable Brahmins learned in the three Vedas, and who have borne the burden of the people as their protector—how can you now seek to withdraw from that responsibility? And these Kshatriyas, desirous of dharma, sit ever in attendance upon you, looking to you with great expectations—poor men whose service is sustained by the hope of its rightful fruits.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse stresses rajadharma: a ruler’s moral identity is defined by sustaining social and sacred obligations—supporting Vedic learning, honoring guests, maintaining ancestral rites, and protecting dependents. Renunciation that abandons these responsibilities is portrayed as ethically problematic, because it harms those who rely on the king’s patronage and protection.
Arjuna addresses a king who is attempting to leave home and become inactive. He argues that such withdrawal amounts to forsaking gods, guests, and ancestors, and betrays the expectations of Brahmins and Kshatriyas who attend upon the king seeking rightful support and the fruits of service.