Shloka 6
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 34 — Vidura’s Counsel on Deliberation, Speech-Discipline, and Dharmic Kingship
स्वयंवरे स्थिता कन्या केशिनी नाम नामतः । रूपेणाप्रतिमा राजन् विशिष्टपतिकाम्यया,राजन्! एक समयकी बात है, केशिनी नामवाली एक अनुपम सुन्दरी कन्या सर्वश्रेष्ठ पतिको वरण करनेकी इच्छासे स्वयंवर-सभामें उपस्थित हुई
svayaṃvare sthitā kanyā keśinī nāma nāmataḥ | rūpeṇāpratimā rājan viśiṣṭa-pati-kāmyayā ||
Dijo Vidura: «Oh rey, hubo una doncella en un svayaṃvara, llamada Keśinī. En hermosura no tenía igual, y había acudido con el deseo de escoger a un esposo de mérito excepcional.»
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the dharmic ideal that marriage—especially among rulers—should be guided by merit and worthiness (viśiṣṭa-pati), not merely by impulse or power. It frames choice as ethically oriented toward excellence and suitability.
Vidura begins an illustrative account: a uniquely beautiful maiden named Keśinī appears in a svayaṃvara assembly, intending to select the best possible husband. This sets up a moral or political exemplum within Vidura’s counsel to the king.