Shloka 4
कृष्ण-दूतविषये दुर्योधनस्य बन्धन-प्रस्तावः — Duryodhana’s Proposal to Detain Krishna
Envoy-Ethics Debate
राजन! जैसे चन्द्रमामें कला है, सूर्यमें प्रभा है और समुद्रमें उत्ताल तरंगें हैं, उसी प्रकार आपमें धर्मकी स्थिति है। यह समस्त प्रजा निश्चितरूपसे जानती है ।। सदैव भावितो लोको गुणौघचैस्तव पार्थिव । गुणानां रक्षणे नित्यं प्रयतस्व सबान्धव:,भूपाल! आपके सदगुणसमूहसे सदा ही इस जगत्की उन्नति एवं प्रतिष्ठा हो रही है। अतः आप अपने बन्धु-बान्धवोंसहित सदा ही इन सदगुणोंकी रक्षाके लिये प्रयत्न कीजिये
rājan! yathā candramasi kalā, sūrye prabhā, samudre ca uccalāḥ taraṅgāḥ, tathā tvayi dharmasya sthitiḥ; etat sarvā prajā niścitarūpeṇa jānāti. sadaiva bhāvito loko guṇaughaiś tava pārthiva; guṇānāṁ rakṣaṇe nityaṁ prayatatsva sabāndhavaḥ.
Vidura addresses the king: “O King, just as the moon bears its phases, the sun its radiance, and the ocean its surging waves, so in you dharma stands established—this the whole people know with certainty. By the flood of your virtues the world is continually sustained and honored; therefore, together with your kinsmen, strive always to protect and preserve those virtues.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s legitimacy rests on dharma and cultivated virtues; since society is uplifted by the king’s good qualities, he must actively preserve them and ensure his family and allies do not undermine them.
In Udyoga Parva, as war approaches, Vidura counsels the king (implicitly Dhṛtarāṣṭra), praising his acknowledged capacity for dharma and urging him—along with his relatives—to safeguard those virtues for the welfare of the realm.