Mahabharata 1.204.3 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 204, Shloka 3
Tilottamā, Sunda–Upasunda, and the Pāṇḍava Samaya (Ādi Parva 204)
तथा द्रोणेन बहुधा भाषितं हितमुत्तमम् । तच्च राधासुत: कर्णो मनन््यते न हित॑ तव
tathā droṇena bahudhā bhāṣitaṃ hitam uttamam | tac ca rādhāsutaḥ karṇo manyate na hitaṃ tava, rājan |
तथा द्रोणेन बहुधा हितमुत्तमं भाषितम्; तत् च राधासुतः कर्णो तव हितं न मन्यते, राजन्।
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s welfare depends on accepting genuinely beneficial counsel (hita), especially from elders and teachers. When advisors or allies dismiss such counsel as ‘not beneficial’ due to bias or ambition, the king is led away from dharma and toward ruin.
Vidura is admonishing the king that respected figures like Droṇa have repeatedly offered excellent advice for his good, but that advice is being discounted—particularly under the influence of Karṇa—so the king is not taking the path that would avert conflict and moral decline.
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