Shloka 21
Divākara-prasāda and the Establishment of Akṣaya-anna
Sūrya’s Favor and Inexhaustible Provision
स मां जिह्दां विदुर सर्व ब्रवीषि मानं च तेडहमधिकं धारयामि । यथेच्छकं गच्छ वा तिष्ठ वा त्वं सुसान्त्व्यमानाप्यसती स्त्री जहाति,विदुर! मैं तुम्हारा अधिक सम्मान करता हूँ; किंतु तुम मुझे सब कुटिलतापूर्ण सलाह दे रहे हो। अब तुम्हारी जैसी इच्छा हो, चले जाओ या रहो। तुमसे मेरा कोई प्रयोजन नहीं है। कुलटा स्त्रीको कितनी ही सान्त्वना दी जाय, वह स्वामीको त्याग ही देती है
sa māṁ jihvāṁ vidura sarvaṁ bravīṣi mānaṁ ca te ’ham adhikaṁ dhārayāmi | yathecchakaṁ gaccha vā tiṣṭha vā tvaṁ susāntvyamānāpy asatī strī jahāti ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Vidura, you speak to me with a sharp tongue, telling me everything outright; and yet I hold you in even greater honor. Still, what you offer feels like counsel that cuts and twists. Now do as you please—go or stay. I have no need of you. For a faithless woman, even when repeatedly soothed and conciliated, abandons her husband all the same.”
धघतयाट्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how anger and attachment can make a ruler reject wise counsel. Even when one claims to respect a counselor, resentment at uncomfortable truth can lead to dismissal. Ethically, it warns that moral guidance is often spurned when it challenges one’s desires, and that persuasion fails when the listener is determined to follow adharma.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, irritated by Vidura’s frank admonitions, tells him to go or stay as he likes and declares he has no need of him. He uses a harsh simile—comparing Vidura’s attempts at conciliation to soothing an unfaithful wife who will abandon her husband anyway—revealing his defensive mindset and refusal to accept corrective advice.