Shloka 15
विदुर-धृतराष्ट्रसंवादः
Vidura–Dhṛtarāṣṭra Dialogue on Rajadharma and Restitution
न श्रेयसे नीयतेडजातशत्रो स्त्री श्रोत्रियस्थेव गृहे प्रदुष्टा । ध्रुवं न रोचेद् भरतर्षभस्य पति: कुमार्या इव षष्टिवर्ष:,अजातशशत्रो! जैसे श्रोत्रियके घरकी दुष्टा स्त्री श्रेयके मार्गपर नहीं लायी जा सकती, उसी प्रकार राजा धृतराष्ट्रको कल्याणके मार्गपर लाना असम्भव है। जैसे कुमारी कन्याको साठ वर्षका बूढ़ा पति अच्छा नहीं लगता, उसी प्रकार भरतश्रेष्ठ धृतराष्ट्रको मेरी कही हुई बात निश्चय ही नहीं रुचती
na śreyase nīyate ’jātaśatro strī śrotriyasyeva gṛhe praduṣṭā | dhruvaṃ na roced bharatarṣabhasya patiḥ kumāryā iva ṣaṣṭivarṣaḥ ||
Vidura says: “O Ajātaśatru, just as a corrupt wife in the house of a learned brāhmaṇa cannot be guided onto the path of true welfare, so too it is impossible to lead King Dhṛtarāṣṭra toward what is truly beneficial. Surely my words do not please that bull among the Bharatas: as a sixty-year-old husband is distasteful to a maiden, so my counsel is unwelcome to him.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura teaches that ethical welfare (śreyas) cannot be imposed on someone whose inner disposition rejects it; wise counsel fails when the listener is morally compromised or attached to harmful choices.
Vidura addresses Ajātaśatru and laments that Dhṛtarāṣṭra will not accept corrective advice; he illustrates this with two similes—an immoral wife in a learned household and an ill-matched elderly husband for a maiden—to show why his counsel is unwelcome.