Shloka 10
Nahūṣa’s Pride, the Ṛṣi-Borne Palanquin, and the Search for Indra (नहुष-इन्द्राणी-प्रकरणम्)
कार्य च हृदि मे यत् तद् देवराजावधारय । वक्ष्यामि यदि मे राजन् प्रियमेतत् करिष्यसि
kāryaṃ ca hṛdi me yat tad devarājāvadhāraya | vakṣyāmi yadi me rājan priyam etat kariṣyasi ||
Śalya said: “What duty lies in my heart—mark it well, O king of the gods. I shall speak it, O King, if you will do this as a kindness to me.”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ethical speech and counsel: one should first ask the listener to attend carefully, then speak from a sense of duty (kārya) rooted in the heart, and frame requests as appeals to goodwill rather than coercion.
Śalya signals that he has an important matter to convey—something he feels bound to express—and asks the addressed ruler to heed him; he will disclose it on the condition that the king grants him a requested favor.