Shloka 20
Vyāsa’s Counsel to Dhṛtarāṣṭra on Restraining Duryodhana (व्यास-धृतराष्ट्र-उपदेशः)
यादृशो मे सुतः पाण्डुस्तादृशो मे5सि पुत्रक | विदुरश्न महाप्राज्ञ: स्नेहादेतद् ब्रवीम्पहम्,वत्स! जैसे पाण्डु मेरे पुत्र हैं, वैसे ही तुम भी हो, उसी प्रकार महाज्ञानी विदुर भी हैं। मैंने स्नेहवश ही तुमसे ये बातें कही हैं
yādṛśo me sutaḥ pāṇḍus tādṛśo me ’si putraka | viduraś ca mahāprājñaḥ snehād etad bravīmi ’ham, vatsa ||
Vyāsa said: “My dear child, you are to me just as my son Pāṇḍu was. And Vidura too is a man of great wisdom. It is only out of affection that I speak these words to you.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
True counsel is grounded in both wisdom and affection: Vyāsa frames his guidance not as harsh judgment but as loving, dharmic concern, affirming familial bonds and honoring Vidura’s exemplary discernment.
Vyāsa addresses a younger person as “vatsa/putraka,” assuring him that he is regarded like Pāṇḍu, and invoking Vidura’s great wisdom as a standard; he clarifies that his words are spoken out of affectionate concern.