Shloka 4
Adhyāya 16 — Daiva, Kṣatriya-dharma, and Public Reassurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
यूयमिन्द्रसमा: सर्वे देवतुल्यपराक्रमा: । मा परेषां मुखप्रेक्षा: स्थेत्येव॑ तत् कृतं मया
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
yūyam indrasamāḥ sarve devatulyaparākramāḥ |
mā pareṣāṃ mukhaprekṣāḥ sthety eva tat kṛtaṃ mayā ||
वैशम्पायन बोले—तुम सब इन्द्र के समान शक्तिशाली और देवताओं के तुल्य पराक्रमी हो। जीविका के लिए दूसरों का मुँह न देखो—इसी हेतु मैंने वैसा किया।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Those endowed with strength and noble capacity should not live in humiliating dependence; ethical agency includes ensuring one’s livelihood and dignity without servile reliance on others.
The narrator reports a justification: someone explains that their earlier action was undertaken so that the addressed group—praised as Indra-like and godlike in valor—would not have to depend on others for sustenance.