Shloka 18

विदुर-धृतराष्ट्रसंवादः

Vidura–Dhṛtarāṣṭra Dialogue on Rajadharma and Restitution

Devanagari script

सोऊहं त्यक्तो धृतराष्ट्रेण राज्ञा प्रशासितुं त्वामुपयातो नरेन्द्र । तद्‌ वै सर्व यन्मयोक्त सभायां तद्‌ धार्यतां यत्‌ प्रवक्ष्यामि भूय:,नरेन्द्र! इस प्रकार राजा धृतराष्ट्रने मुझे त्याग दिया है; अतः मैं तुम्हें उपदेश देनेके लिये आया हूँ। मैंने सभामें जो कुछ कहा था और पुन: इस समय जो कुछ कह रहा हूँ, वह सब तुम धारण करो

Transliteration

so 'haṃ tyakto dhṛtarāṣṭreṇa rājñā praśāsituṃ tvām upayāto narendra | tad vai sarvaṃ yan mayoktaṃ sabhāyāṃ tad dhāryatāṃ yat pravakṣyāmi bhūyaḥ ||

Translation

“Ta đã bị vua Dhṛtarāṣṭra gạt bỏ; vì thế, hỡi bậc chúa tể loài người, ta đến với ngươi để khuyên răn và dẫn dắt. Những điều ta đã nói trước kia trong triều hội—và những điều ta sẽ nói lại lúc này—xin hãy ghi khắc tất cả thật vững trong tâm trí.”

Word by Word

• {"so 'ham (saḥ aham)": 'I (that very person)', 'tyaktaḥ': 'abandoned, rejected, cast off', 'dhṛtarāṣṭreṇa': 'by Dhṛtarāṣṭra', 'rājñā': 'by the king', 'praśāsitum': 'to instruct, to govern/discipline, to guide', 'tvām': 'you', 'upayātaḥ': 'has come, has approached', 'narendra': 'O king

• lord of men', 'tad vai': 'therefore indeed

• that indeed', 'sarvam': 'all, everything', 'yat': 'whatever', 'mayā uktam (mayoktam)': 'spoken by me', 'sabhāyām': 'in the assembly, in the court', 'dhāryatām': 'let it be held/retained (in mind)

• let it be borne', 'pravakṣyāmi': 'I will declare, I will speak', 'bhūyaḥ': 'again, further, once more'}

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Narendra (the addressed king, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira in context)
• Sabhā (royal assembly/court)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura emphasizes disciplined receptivity to righteous counsel: a king should retain and act upon ethical guidance, whether given publicly in the court or repeated privately, because dharma-based instruction is meant to steady governance and personal conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

After being disregarded by Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Vidura approaches the addressed king (contextually Yudhiṣṭhira) in the forest-exile setting, stating that he has come specifically to instruct him and urging him to remember both Vidura’s earlier courtly warnings and his present renewed counsel.