Adhyaya 18 — Arjuna Declines the Throne; Garga Directs Him to Dattatreya; The Gods Defeat the Daityas through Dattatreya’s Vision and the Movement of Lakshmi
यद्येवं कर्तुकामस्त्वं राज्यं सम्यक् प्रशासितुम् ।
ततो शृणुष्व मे वाक्यं कुरुष्व च नृपात्मज ॥
yady evaṃ kartukāmas tvaṃ rājyaṃ samyak praśāsitum | tato śṛṇuṣva me vākyaṃ kuruṣva ca nṛpātmaja ||
यदि त्वं राज्यं सम्यक् शासितुम् इच्छसि, तर्हि मम वचनं शृणु, तदनुसारं च आचर, हे कुमार।
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Good rulership is teachable and must be consciously learned; willingness to listen is presented as the first qualification for dharmic authority.
Dharma-oriented instruction within narrative (adjacent to vaṃśānucarita traditions of exemplary rulers and counsel).
‘Listen and act’ points to śravaṇa and anuṣṭhāna—knowledge becomes transformative only when embodied as disciplined action.