Shloka 17
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 34 — Vidura’s Counsel on Deliberation, Speech-Discipline, and Dharmic Kingship
पिता हि ते समासीनमुपासीतैव मामधथ: । बाल: सुखैधितो गेहे न त्वं किंचन बुध्यसे
pitā hi te samāsīnam upāsītaiva mām adhaḥ | bālaḥ sukhādhito gehe na tvaṃ kiñcana budhyase ||
«Твой отец Прахлада сидел ниже и служил мне, даже когда ты оставался сидеть выше. Ты ещё ребёнок, взращённый в домашнем довольстве; потому ты ничего не понимаешь в этих делах».
विरोचन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how claims to status are often justified by invoking past acts of deference and hierarchy; it cautions that comfort and immaturity can limit one’s understanding of deeper social and ethical realities.
Virocana rebukes the listener by asserting his own superiority: he says the listener’s father (Prahlāda) used to serve him from a lower seat, while the listener, being young and raised in comfort, lacks knowledge of these prior relations.