Shloka 28
Vidura’s Message to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: Authorization for Dāna and Public Welfare (विदुरवाक्यम्—दानानुज्ञा)
स्थानमप्यस्य नृपते: श्रोतुमिच्छाम्यहं विभो । त्वत्त: कीदूक् कदा चेति तन्ममाख्याहि तत्त्वतः
sthānam apy asya nṛpateḥ śrotum icchāmy ahaṃ vibho | tvattaḥ kīdṛk kadā ceti tan mamākhyāhi tattvataḥ ||
اے صاحبِ اقتدار، میں اس بادشاہ کے لیے جو مقام مقدر ہے وہ بھی آپ ہی کے دہنِ مبارک سے سننا چاہتا ہوں۔ آپ ہی سچائی کے ساتھ بتائیے کہ وہ مقام کیسا ہوگا اور کب حاصل ہوگا۔
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse models dharmic inquiry: one should seek truthful, precise knowledge about the consequences of a ruler’s life—his ultimate ‘sthāna’—and understand both the nature of the outcome and its timing, implying that destiny follows moral and karmic order.
The narrator-speaker Vaiśampāyana asks a revered interlocutor to explain the future state (abode/destination) that will be attained by a particular king, requesting an exact account of what that state is like and when it will be reached.