Shloka 21
धृतराष्ट्रस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति व्यवहार-रक्षा-नियमनोपदेशः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Instruction on Administration, Punishment, and Daily Governance
क्व तदा धृतराष्ट्रस्य स्नेहो5स्मद्गोचरो गत:
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
kva tadā dhṛtarāṣṭrasya sneho ’smad-gocaro gataḥ,
kva tadā droṇa-bhīṣmau tau somadatto ’pi vābhavat |
毗湿摩波耶那说道：“那时，持国王对我们——曾经如此分明的——慈爱到哪里去了？那时，德罗那与毗湿摩在哪里？索摩达多又到哪里去了？”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ethical accountability: when injustice occurs, especially against the vulnerable, the duty of rulers and elders is to protect and speak. Their silence is portrayed as a grave lapse of dharma, making them morally answerable even if they did not directly commit the act.
Vaiśampāyana, recounting past events, voices a pointed lament: at the critical moment of wrongdoing in the Kuru court, Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s earlier goodwill toward the Pāṇḍavas seemed to vanish, and the great elders—Droṇa, Bhīṣma, and Somadatta—were effectively ‘absent’ through inaction.