Shloka 21
Adharma’s Short-Lived Prosperity and the Restorative Path of Tīrtha (लोमश–युधिष्ठिर संवादः)
तेडपि सर्वे निवर्तन्तां ये च सूदानुयायिन: । मया यथोचिताजीव्यै: संविभक्ताश्न वृत्तिभि:,जो लोग रसोइयोंकी अपेक्षा रखनेवाले हैं तथा जिन्हें मैंने अलग-अलग बाँटकर उचित- उचित आजीविकाकी व्यवस्था कर दी है, वे सब लोग घर लौट जायेँ
te 'pi sarve nivartantāṁ ye ca sūdānuyāyinaḥ | mayā yathocitājīvyaiḥ saṁvibhaktāś ca vṛttibhiḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Let all those also return home—those who depend upon the cooks and those for whom I have already arranged suitable means of livelihood, assigning them their proper sustenance and occupations.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s dharma includes responsible care for dependents: ensuring appropriate livelihoods and then releasing them from unnecessary hardship. Ethical leadership is shown through orderly provision, not mere command.
Yudhiṣṭhira instructs that certain members of the retinue—especially those connected with kitchen service or dependent on it—should return home, since he has already arranged proper sustenance and occupations for them.