Shloka 246
वनं गच्छ मया सार्ध धृतराष्ट्रेण चैव ह | यदि इन दिनों विनाशकाल उपस्थित होनेके कारण आपकी बुद्धि नष्ट हो गयी हो तो मेरे और धृतराष्ट्रके साथ वनमें पधारिये
vanaṁ gaccha mayā sārdhaṁ dhṛtarāṣṭreṇa caiva ha | yadi etad-dineṣu vināśa-kāla upasthite hetor tava buddhiḥ naṣṭā syāt, tarhi mayā dhṛtarāṣṭreṇa ca sārdhaṁ vanaṁ prapadyasva ||
Vidura said: “Come to the forest with me—and with Dhṛtarāṣṭra as well. If, in these days when the time of ruin has arrived, your judgment has been destroyed, then withdraw with me and Dhṛtarāṣṭra to the forest.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
When discernment collapses under the pressure of an approaching catastrophe, the ethical course may be to withdraw from harmful action and seek a life aligned with restraint and dharma—symbolized here by going to the forest.
Vidura urges a retreat: he invites the addressed person to leave the courtly conflict behind and go to the forest together with him and Dhṛtarāṣṭra, warning that the ‘time of ruin’ has arrived and that judgment has been compromised.