Shloka 2
अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal
विदुरे चापि संसिद्धि धर्मराजं व्यपाश्रिते । वसत्सु पाण्डुपुत्रेषु सर्वेष्वाश्रममण्डले
vidure cāpi saṁsiddhiṁ dharmarājaṁ vyapāśrite | vasatsu pāṇḍuputreṣu sarveṣv āśramamaṇḍale ||
Janamejaya disse: “Quando Dhṛtarāṣṭra, senhor da terra, partiu para a vida na floresta com sua rainha Gāndhārī e sua nora Kuntī; quando Vidura, tendo alcançado a perfeição espiritual, entrou na pessoa de Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira; e quando todos os filhos de Pāṇḍu viviam no recinto do eremitério — como ocorreu aquele prodígio que o radiante Vyāsa havia anunciado, dizendo: ‘Revelarei um acontecimento assombroso’? Peço-te que me digas.”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the movement from worldly roles to spiritual culmination: elders embrace renunciation, and Vidura’s ‘siddhi’ signifies inner realization that ultimately seeks refuge in dharma itself—embodied by Yudhiṣṭhira. It frames dharma not merely as rule-following but as a living principle that can ‘receive’ and preserve wisdom when the realized withdraw from ordinary life.
Janamejaya asks Vaiśaṁpāyana to explain a marvel foretold by Vyāsa: after Dhṛtarāṣṭra departs for the forest with Gāndhārī and Kuntī, Vidura attains perfection and enters into Yudhiṣṭhira, while the Pāṇḍavas reside in the hermitage precinct. The question sets up the account of how this extraordinary event took place.