Shloka 28
Vidura’s Message to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: Authorization for Dāna and Public Welfare (विदुरवाक्यम्—दानानुज्ञा)
स्थानमप्यस्य नृपते: श्रोतुमिच्छाम्यहं विभो । त्वत्त: कीदूक् कदा चेति तन्ममाख्याहि तत्त्वतः
sthānam apy asya nṛpateḥ śrotum icchāmy ahaṃ vibho | tvattaḥ kīdṛk kadā ceti tan mamākhyāhi tattvataḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : «Ô puissant, moi aussi je souhaite entendre le destin qui attend ce roi. Dis-le-moi de ta bouche, en toute vérité et dans le détail : quel état atteindra-t-il, et quand l’atteindra-t-il ?»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse models dharmic inquiry: one should seek truthful, precise knowledge about the consequences of a ruler’s life—his ultimate ‘sthāna’—and understand both the nature of the outcome and its timing, implying that destiny follows moral and karmic order.
The narrator-speaker Vaiśampāyana asks a revered interlocutor to explain the future state (abode/destination) that will be attained by a particular king, requesting an exact account of what that state is like and when it will be reached.