Shloka 11
Adhyāya 128 — Proposal to Restrain Keśava; Sātyaki’s Warning and Vidura–Dhṛtarāṣṭra Counsel
आप्तुमाप्तं तथापीदमविनीतेन सर्वथा । गान्धारीने कहा--महाराज! राज्यकी कामनासे आतुर हुए अपने पुत्रको शीघ्र बुलवाइये। धर्म और अर्थका लोप करनेवाला कोई भी अशिष्ट पुरुष राज्य नहीं पा सकता, तथापि सर्वथा उद्धण्डताका परिचय देनेवाले उस दुष्टने राज्यको प्राप्त कर लिया है ।।
vaiśampāyana uvāca | āptum āptaṃ tathāpīdam avinītena sarvathā | gāndhārī uvāca—mahārāja! rājyakāmanayā āturībhūtaṃ svaputraṃ śīghraṃ bulvāyaya | dharma-artha-lopa-kārī kaścid api aśiṣṭaḥ puruṣo rājyaṃ na prāpnoti, tathāpi sarvathā uddhaṇḍatā-paricayaṃ dadatā tena duṣṭena rājyaṃ prāptam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Yet this has happened—what ought not to be attained has been attained by one wholly undisciplined. Gāndhārī said: “O King, quickly summon your son who is fevered with desire for sovereignty. No uncultured man who brings about the ruin of dharma and material welfare should obtain a kingdom; and yet that wicked one, displaying sheer lawlessness, has gained power.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kingship is ethically conditioned: rule should belong to the disciplined and cultured who protect dharma and artha. When an insolent, unruly person gains power, it signals moral disorder and invites ruin; elders must intervene promptly.
Vaiśampāyana reports Gāndhārī’s urgent counsel to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra: she asks him to summon his son, driven by craving for the kingdom, and warns that despite the norm that such a man should not rule, the wicked son has nevertheless secured power.