Shloka 25
Droṇa–Vidura–Gāndhārī Counsel in the Royal Assembly (धर्मार्थयुक्ता सभा-उपदेश-प्रकरणम्)
दारेष्वप्यतिसक्तश्न यक्ष्माणं समपद्यत | यदा त्वराजके राष्ट्र न ववर्ष सुरेश्वर: । तदाभ्यधावन् मामेव प्रजा: क्षुद्धयपीडिता:
dāreṣv apy atisaktaś ca yakṣmāṇaṃ samapadyata | yadā tv arājake rāṣṭre na vavarṣa sureśvaraḥ | tadābhyadhāvan mām eva prajāḥ kṣudhayāpīḍitāḥ |
दारेष्वत्यतिसक्तः स राजयक्ष्माणं समपद्यत; तेनाभिभूतः प्राणान् जहौ। यदा त्वराजके राष्ट्रे न ववर्ष सुरेश्वरः, तदा प्रजाः क्षुधापीडिताः मामेवाभ्यधावन् शरणार्थिनः।
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links personal and political disorder to collective suffering: uncontrolled attachment leads to bodily ruin, and a kingless realm loses stability so severely that even nature’s support (rain) is withdrawn; in crisis, people seek a sustaining power for protection.
Vāyu recounts a time when people, weakened by disease arising from excessive sensual attachment, died; afterward, in a rulerless kingdom, Indra stopped the rains, causing famine, and the starving populace rushed to Vāyu for help.