Shloka 36

Vidura’s Message to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: Authorization for Dāna and Public Welfare (विदुरवाक्यम्—दानानुज्ञा)

Devanagari script

देवगुह्ामिदं प्रीत्या मया व: कथितं महत्‌ | भवन्तो हि श्रुतधनास्तपसा दग्धकिल्बिषा:,यह देवताओंका अन्यन्त गुप्त विचार है। परंतु आप लोगोंपर प्रेम होनेके कारण मैंने इसे आपके सामने प्रकट कर दिया है। आपलोग वेदके धनी हैं और तपस्यासे निष्पाप हो चुके हैं (अत: आपके सामने इस रहस्यको प्रकट करनेमें कोई हर्ज नहीं है)

Transliteration

devaguhyam idaṁ prītyā mayā vaḥ kathitaṁ mahat | bhavanto hi śrutadhanās tapasā dagdhakilbiṣāḥ ||

Translation

Nārada nói: “Đại sự này—vốn được chư thiên giữ kín như một bí mật—ta đã bày tỏ với các ngươi vì lòng thương mến. Bởi các ngươi giàu có về thánh học và nhờ khổ hạnh (tapas) đã thiêu rụi tội lỗi; vì thế, việc hé lộ lời bàn kín này cho các ngươi không có gì là bất xứng.”

Word by Word

• {'devaguhyam': 'a secret (guhya) belonging to/known among the gods', 'idam': 'this', 'prītyā': 'out of affection, with goodwill', 'mayā': 'by me', 'vaḥ': 'to you (plural)', 'kathitam': 'told, narrated, disclosed', 'mahat': 'great, weighty, important', 'bhavantaḥ': 'you (honorific plural)', 'hi': 'indeed, for', 'śrutadhanāḥ': 'those whose wealth is śruti

• rich in Vedic learning', 'tapasā': 'by austerity, through ascetic practice', 'dagdha': 'burned up, consumed', 'kilbiṣāḥ': 'sins, moral taints, demerit'}

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• devas (the gods)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Esoteric instruction should be shared with discernment: those grounded in Vedic learning and purified by austerity are fit recipients of hidden counsel, and affection (prīti) can motivate responsible revelation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada addresses his listeners and justifies why he is revealing a divine secret: he trusts their spiritual qualification—scriptural mastery and sinlessness attained through tapas—so the disclosure is appropriate.