Shloka 10
Droṇa–Vidura–Gāndhārī Counsel in the Royal Assembly (धर्मार्थयुक्ता सभा-उपदेश-प्रकरणम्)
हमारे छोटे चाचा धर्मज्ञोंमें श्रेष्ठ विदुरने भी, जो हम पुत्रोंके शोकसे सदा संतप्त रहते हैं, दुर्योधनसे क्या कहा? ।। कि च सर्वे नृपतय: सभायां ये समासते । उक्तवन्तो यथातत्त्वं तद् ब्रूहि त्वं जनार्दन
kiṃ ca sarve nṛpatayaḥ sabhāyāṃ ye samāsate | uktavanto yathātattvaṃ tad brūhi tvaṃ janārdana ||
“And what did Vidura too—our younger uncle, foremost among those who know dharma, ever tormented by grief for his sons—say to Duryodhana? And what, in accordance with the truth of the matter, did all the kings who were assembled in the royal court declare? Tell me that, O Janārdana.”
युधिष्टिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds yathātattvam—speaking and reporting matters as they truly are. In a crisis of state and dharma, truthful counsel and accurate transmission of what elders and rulers said is essential for just decision-making and for exhausting peaceful options before war.
Yudhiṣṭhira questions Kṛṣṇa about the deliberations in the Kaurava court: what the assembled kings stated in the sabhā. He seeks a faithful account of the political-moral counsel offered there, which will shape the Pāṇḍavas’ response amid failed negotiations and rising conflict.