Shloka 29
अध्याय २९७ — श्रेयः, धृति, दान-नियमाः
Welfare, Steadfastness, and Norms of Giving
प्रबाधनार्थ श्रूतिधर्मयुक्तान् वृद्धानुपास्य प्रभवेत यस्य । प्रयत्नसाध्यो हि स राजपुत्र प्रज्ञाशरेणोन्मथित: परैति,राजकुमार! उस शत्रुको पराजित करनेमें वही समर्थ हो सकता है, जो वेदोक्त धर्मसम्पन्न वृद्ध पुरुषोंकी सेवा करके प्रज्ञा (स्थिरबुद्धि)-को प्राप्त कर लेता है, क्योंकि अज्ञानमय शत्रुको जीतना महान् प्रयत्नसाध्य कर्म है। वह प्रज्ञारूपी बाणकी चोट खाकर ही नष्ट होता है
prabādhanārthaṃ śrutidharmayuktān vṛddhān upāsya prabhavet yasya | prayatnasādhyo hi sa rājaputra prajñāśareṇonmathitaḥ paraiti ||
पराशर उवाच—राजपुत्र, श्रुतिधर्मयुक्तान् वृद्धान् उपास्य यस्य प्रज्ञा प्रभवेत, स एव तं शत्रुं प्रबाधितुं समर्थः। स हि शत्रुः महता प्रयत्नेन साध्यः; प्रज्ञाशरेणोन्मथितः स विनश्यति।
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True victory over the most difficult enemy—ignorance and inner confusion—comes from disciplined effort supported by wisdom. That wisdom is cultivated by reverent service to elders who embody Vedic learning and dharma; only the ‘arrow of discernment’ can uproot and destroy such an enemy.
Parāśara instructs a prince, advising him that the capacity to overcome an adversary is not merely physical or political. It depends on acquiring steady intelligence through serving righteous, Veda-grounded elders; the enemy is portrayed as something that yields only when struck down by wisdom.