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 disse: “Havia certas aves da floresta que excretavam ouro. Certa vez, enquanto repousavam tranquilas em seus ninhos, um rei — movido pela cobiça — mandou destruí-las. Ó flagelo dos inimigos, ávido de ouro e cegado pela ânsia de deleites, ele quis apoderar-se de grande riqueza de uma só vez.”
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.