Shloka 2
Adhyāya 6: Vidura’s Saṃsāra-Upamā
The Allegory of the Well, Time, and Desire
स देश: क्व नु यत्रासौ वसते धर्मसंकटे । कथं वा स विमुच्येत नरस्तस्मान्महाभयात्,कहाँ है वह देश, जहाँ बेचारा ब्राह्मण ऐसे धर्मसंकटमें रहता है? उस महान् भयसे उसका छुटकारा किस प्रकार हो सकता है?
sa deśaḥ kva nu yatrāsau vasate dharmasaṅkaṭe | kathaṃ vā sa vimucyeta naras tasmān mahābhayāt ||
Vidura berkata: “Di manakah negeri itu, tempat orang itu tinggal, terperangkap dalam dharma-saṅkaṭa—dilema dharma yang berat? Dan bagaimana orang itu dapat dibebaskan daripada ketakutan yang besar itu?”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical inquiry: when someone is trapped in a dharma-saṅkaṭa (a conflict of duties or moral uncertainty), the right response is to seek clarity about circumstances (“where is he situated?”) and then the means of release (“how can he be freed?”). It emphasizes discernment and guidance as prerequisites to resolving moral fear.
Vidura, speaking in the Stree Parva context of post-war grief and moral reckoning, asks about the location and condition of a person living under a severe dharma-crisis and then asks what way exists for that person to be delivered from overwhelming fear—setting up counsel on ethical resolution.