Shloka 17
धृतराष्ट्र-सत्कारः तथा श्राद्ध-दाने नियमनम् | Honoring Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Regulating Śrāddha-Gifts
प्रियाण्येव तु कौरव्यो नाप्रियाणि कुरूद्गधह:
vaiśampāyana uvāca | priyāṇy eva tu kauravyo nāpriyāṇi kurūdgaḍhaḥ | viparītakaś ca me śatrur niyamyaś ca bhaven naraḥ ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “Si Yudhiṣṭhira, ang Kaurava, matatag at di matinag sa pasiya, ay nagsasalita lamang ng mga salitang nakalulugod at hindi ng mabagsik o di-kaaya-aya. Para sa akin, ang taong kumikilos nang salungat ay kaaway; ngunit ang nananatili sa ilalim ng disiplina at pagsunod ay dapat ituring na kaibigan.” (Kaya si Yudhiṣṭhira, likás na mahabagin, ay nagbilin sa kanyang mga kapatid at mga ministro na igalang si Dhṛtarāṣṭra bilang karapat-dapat sa pagpupugay, at ituring ang pagsunod sa kanyang utos bilang tanda ng katapatan.)
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler should cultivate disciplined speech—favoring what is beneficial and agreeable over harshness—and maintain social order by defining loyalty as obedience to rightful authority; deliberate contrariness becomes a breach of dharma and is treated as enmity.
Vaiśampāyana describes Yudhiṣṭhira’s gentle, principled governance: he instructs his circle that honoring and obeying the elder Dhṛtarāṣṭra is a duty, and that those who oppose this discipline are to be regarded as adversaries liable to punishment.