Shloka 15
Nārada’s Exempla of Tapas and Assurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra (नारदोपदेशः—तपःसिद्ध्युदाहरणम्)
एवं स राजा धर्मात्मा परीत्याश्रममण्डलम् | वसु विश्राण्य तत् सर्व पुनरायान्महीपति:
evaṁ sa rājā dharmātmā parītyāśramamaṇḍalam | vasu viśrāṇya tat sarvaṁ punar āyān mahīpatiḥ ||
Ainsi ce roi juste, après avoir parcouru le cercle des ermitages et distribué toutes ces richesses, revint de nouveau—seigneur de la terre—à l’āśrama de Dhṛtarāṣṭra. La scène souligne une royauté tenue en bride par le dharma : le pouvoir ne s’affirme pas par l’accumulation, mais par la visite respectueuse et la générosité envers ceux qui vivent l’ascèse.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharmic kingship: a ruler’s virtue is shown through humility toward ascetic communities and through generous redistribution of wealth, treating resources as a trust to be shared rather than possessed.
Yudhiṣṭhira visits the surrounding hermitages, gives away the wealth he has brought, and then returns to the hermitage where Dhṛtarāṣṭra is staying.