Shloka 8
अध्याय २९ — वासुदेव–संजय संवादः
Karma, Varṇa-Dharma, and the Ethics of Governance
स्वाध्यायिनो ब्राह्मणा भिक्षवश्न तपस्विनो ये च नित्या वनेषु । अभिवाद्या वै मद्धचनेन वृद्धा- स्तथेतरेषां कुशलं वदेथा:
svādhyāyino brāhmaṇā bhikṣavaś ca tapassvino ye ca nityā vaneṣu | abhivādyā vai madvacanena vṛddhās tathetareṣāṁ kuśalaṁ vadethāḥ ||
युधिष्ठिर उवाच—स्वाध्यायिनो ब्राह्मणान्, भिक्षून्, नित्यं वनेषु तपस्विनश्च मद्धचनेनाभिवादय। वृद्धान् यथाविधि नमस्कृत्य, इतरेषां च कुशलं पृच्छेथाः।
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid political crisis, dharma is upheld through humility and social responsibility: honoring Vedic learners, renunciants, and elders, and maintaining bonds of care by asking after others’ welfare.
Yudhiṣṭhira instructs a messenger (implicitly) to convey his salutations to religious and senior members of society—Brāhmaṇas devoted to study, mendicants, forest ascetics, and elders—and to inquire about the well-being of everyone else.