Shloka 13
याज्ञसेनी-प्रश्नः
Draupadī’s Question in the Assembly
हिरण्यष्ठीविन: कांश्चित् पक्षिणो वनगोचरान् | गृहे किल कृतावासान् लोभाद् राजा न्यपीडयत् | स चोपभोगलोभान्धो हिरण्यार्थी परंतप
hiraṇyaṣṭhīvinaḥ kāṁścit pakṣiṇo vanagocarān | gṛhe kila kṛtāvāsān lobhād rājā nyapīḍayat | sa copabhogalobhāndho hiraṇyārthī parantapa ||
Vidura berkata: “Ada burung-burung tertentu yang hidup di rimba, yang mengeluarkan emas. Pada suatu ketika, saat mereka duduk nyaman di sarang, seorang raja—didorong ketamakan—memusnahkan mereka. Wahai penakluk musuh, raja itu dahagakan emas dan mahu merampas kekayaan yang banyak sekaligus; nafsu menikmati kesenangan telah membutakannya.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Greed—especially the craving to gain much at once—blinds judgment and leads to adharma: harming living beings and ultimately ruining the seeker. Vidura warns that desire for pleasure and wealth can overpower a ruler’s discernment and duty.
Vidura recounts a cautionary tale: a king learns of birds in a forest that produce gold. When the birds are peacefully settled in their nests, the king, driven by avarice, has them killed to obtain gold quickly, showing how obsession with wealth leads to cruelty and folly.