Shloka 3
Adhyāya 20 — Rājadharma Argument for Paternal Inheritance and Timely Conciliation
सर्वेर्भवद्धिर्विदितो राजधर्म: सनातन: । वाक्योपादानहेतोस्तु वक्ष्यामि विदिते सति
sarvair bhavadbhir vidito rājadharmaḥ sanātanaḥ | vākyopādāna-hetos tu vakṣyāmi vidite sati |
Vaiśampāyana said: “All of you already know well the eternal dharma of kingship. Yet, though it is known, I shall speak—so that, in the end, there may be an occasion to hear it also from your own mouths, as a confirmed basis for what is to be said and decided.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when a moral principle is already known (here, the perennial rājadharma), it should be restated in council so that decisions rest on explicitly affirmed dharma and shared accountability, not merely private understanding.
The narrator-speaker (Vaiśaṃpāyana) signals that the assembly already understands the eternal duties of kings, yet he will articulate them anyway to establish a clear verbal foundation and to elicit confirmation from the listeners during deliberation.