Shloka 3

Vyavahāra-Śuddhi and Rājadharma: Clean Administration, Counsel, and Proportional Punishment

Chapter 86

Devanagari script

युधिछिर उवाच कीदशैरव्यवहारैस्तु कैश्न व्यवहरेन्नप: । एतत्पृष्टो महाप्राज्ञ यथावद्‌ वक्तुमहसि

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | kīdṛśair avyavahārais tu kaiś ca vyavaharen nṛpaḥ | etat pṛṣṭo mahāprājña yathāvad vaktum arhasi ||

Translation

尤狄希提罗说道：“大智者！君王当与何等之人——尤其是行止不正之辈——往来处事？又当以何种方式应对？既然我已发问，还望你如法如序，详加开示。”

Word by Word

• युधिष्ठिरः: Yudhiṣṭhira
• युधिष्ठिरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधिष्ठिर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect, Third, Singular

• कीदृशैः: with what kind (of)
• कीदृशैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कीदृश
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• व्यवहारैः: dealings, modes of conduct
• व्यवहारैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्यवहार
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• तु: indeed, but
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• कैः: with whom (with which persons)
• कैः: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• व्यवहरेत्: should व्यवहार/behave, should deal
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्यवहृ
• Form: Optative, Third, Singular

• नृपः: a king
• नृपः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• एतत्: this
• एतत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• पृष्टः: being asked
• Type: Verb
• Root: पृच्छ्
• Form: क्त, Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महाप्राज्ञ: O greatly wise one
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाप्राज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• यथावत्: properly, as it truly is
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथावत्

• वक्तुम्: to speak
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: तुमुन्, Active

• अर्हसि: you ought, you are fit
• Type: Verb
• Root: अर्ह्
• Form: Present, Second, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• nṛpaḥ (the king)
• mahāprājña (the wise interlocutor)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a rājadharma inquiry: a king must know how to engage different types of people, including those of improper conduct, and must apply appropriate, principled modes of interaction rather than a single uniform approach.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on governance and dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira asks a highly wise teacher to explain, in a systematic and correct way, how a ruler should conduct dealings with various kinds of persons.