Shloka 23

धृतराष्ट्रस्य वंशोपदेशः

Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Dynastic Counsel on Legitimate Rule

Devanagari script

प्रजापति: प्रजा: सृष्टवा यथा संहरते तथा

Transliteration

prajāpatiḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā yathā saṁharate tathā

Translation

പ്രജാപതി ജീവികളെ സൃഷ്ടിച്ച ശേഷം അവരെ വീണ്ടും സംഹരിക്കുന്നതുപോലെ, ലോകവും സൃഷ്ടി-ലയം എന്ന നിയമപ്രകാരം തന്നെ സഞ്ചരിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• प्रजापतिः: Prajāpati (the Lord of creatures)
• प्रजापतिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजापति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रजाः: creatures, subjects
• प्रजाः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजा
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Plural

• सृष्ट्वा: having created
• Type: Verb
• Root: सृज्
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage), prior action

• यथा: as, just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• संहरते: withdraws/destroys (draws back)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सं-हृ
• Form: Present (Lat), Third, Singular, Ātmanepada

• तथा: so, in the same way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Prajāpati

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura points to the cosmic pattern of creation and dissolution: all beings arise and are withdrawn in due course. Ethically, this supports sobriety, detachment from pride and possession, and governance aligned with dharma rather than ego, remembering that power and life are transient.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, Vidura delivers counsel meant to restrain destructive choices and to ground political action in dharma. By invoking Prajāpati’s act of creating and withdrawing beings, he frames human conflict and ambition within a larger moral-cosmic order, urging perspective and self-control.