Shloka 4
Chapter 15: Counsel on Initiative vs. Renunciation in the Rajasuya Project (सभापर्व, अध्याय १५)
विशाला बहुला भूमिर्बहुरत्नसमाचिता | दूरं गत्वा विजानाति श्रेयो वृष्णिकुलोद्वह
viśālā bahulā bhūmir bahuratnasamācitā | dūraṃ gatvā vijānāti śreyo vṛṣṇikulodvaha vṛṣṇikulabhūṣaṇa ||
Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Wahai yang terunggul dalam keturunan Vṛṣṇi, wahai perhiasan kaum Vṛṣṇi! Bumi ini luas dan subur, sarat dengan pelbagai permata. Hanya setelah mengembara jauh—bertemu insan mulia dan melihat kehidupan di luar tempat sendiri—barulah seseorang benar-benar mengetahui apa yang membawa kepada kebaikan tertinggi baginya.”
युधिछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True welfare (śreyaḥ) is not grasped merely by staying within one’s familiar surroundings; by going out into the wider world and associating with the wise, one gains discernment about what is genuinely beneficial and ethically sound.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a prominent member of the Vṛṣṇi clan (implicitly Kṛṣṇa) with honorific epithets and reflects that the world is vast and full of varied resources; through travel and contact with good people, one comes to understand the path to one’s highest good.