Shloka 145
Śoka-śamana: Kṛṣṇa’s Consolation and Nārada’s Exempla to Sṛñjaya
Chapter 29
कि वा तूष्णीं ध्यायसे सूंजय त्वं न मे राजन् वाचमिमां शृणोषि । न चेन्मोघं विप्रलप्तं ममेदं पथ्य॑ मुमूर्षोरिव सुप्रयुक्तम्
ki vā tūṣṇīṁ dhyāyase sūñjaya tvaṁ na me rājan vācam imāṁ śṛṇoṣi | na cen moghaṁ vipralaptaṁ mamedaṁ pathyaṁ mumūrṣor iva suprayuktam ||
风神伐由说道：“苏恩阇耶啊，你为何默然端坐，沉入思虑？大王啊，你为何不听我这番言语？愿我之劝诫不至徒然——如同药石虽施用得当，却在将死之人身上终归无效。”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Wholesome instruction bears fruit only when it is received with attentive listening and timely responsiveness; even the best counsel becomes futile if the hearer remains silent, distracted, or beyond readiness—like medicine given too late.
Vāyudeva addresses Sūñjaya (and calls him ‘King’), noticing his silence and lack of response. He presses him to listen, warning that his carefully offered, beneficial counsel should not become pointless, using the analogy of medicine wasted on a dying patient.