Shloka 4
मैत्रेयागमनम् — The Arrival of Maitreya and the Admonition to Duryodhana
रात्रौ निशी्थे त्वाभीले गते<र्धसमये नृप । प्रचारे पुरुषादानां रक्षसां घोरकर्मणाम्,आधी रातके भयंकर समयमें, जब कि भयानक कर्म करनेवाले नरभक्षी राक्षस विचरते रहते हैं, तपस्वी मुनि और वनचारी गोपगण भी उस राक्षसके भयसे उस वनको दूरसे ही त्याग देते थे
rātrau niśīthe tv abhīle gate 'rdhasamaye nṛpa | pracāre puruṣādānāṁ rakṣasāṁ ghorakarmaṇām ||
Vidura said: “O king, at night—at the dead of night, when the fearful middle watch had come—terrible man-eating rākṣasas of dreadful deeds would roam about. Because of that terror, even ascetic sages and the cowherds who lived in the forest would abandon that woodland from afar.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores a ruler’s duty to ensure safety and order: when violent forces roam unchecked, even the righteous—sages and simple forest-dwellers—are driven away, showing how fear erodes dharmic life.
Vidura describes a forest made dangerous at midnight by roaming man-eating rākṣasas; their presence is so terrifying that ascetics and cowherds avoid or abandon the area.