Shloka 18
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 34 — Vidura’s Counsel on Deliberation, Speech-Discipline, and Dharmic Kingship
विरेचन उवाच हिरण्यं च गवाश्चृं च यद् वित्तमसुरेषु न: । सुधन्वन् विपणे तेन प्रश्न॑ पृच्छाव ये विदु:
virocana uvāca hiraṇyaṃ ca gavāś ca aśvān ca yad vittam asureṣu naḥ | sudhanvan vipaṇe tena praśnaṃ pṛcchāva ye viduḥ ||
Вирочана сказал: «О Судханван, всё богатство, каким владеем мы, асуры,— золото, коровы, кони и прочее — я ставлю на кон. Пойдём же вдвоём и спросим тех, кто поистине знает, и пусть они решат этот вопрос: кто из нас двоих превосходнее?»
विरेचन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how disputes about superiority should be settled by appealing to genuine knowledge rather than mere assertion—yet it also exposes the ethical tension of staking material wealth and pride on questions that ideally require humility and discernment.
Virocana challenges Sudhanvan by proposing a wager of substantial Asura wealth (gold, cattle, horses). He urges that they approach competent authorities—those who truly know—to ask and determine which of the two is superior.