श्लक्ष्णा मधुरसंभाषा ज्ञातिमध्ये प्रियंवदाः ॥
कुलीनाः संमताः प्राज्ञाः सुखं प्राप्स्यन्ति पाण्डवाः ॥
धर्मापेक्षो नरो नित्यं सर्वत्र लभते सुखम् ॥
प्रेत्यभावे च कल्याणं प्रसादं प्रतिपद्यते ॥
अर्हन्त्य् अर्धं पृथिव्यास् ते भोक्तुं सामर्थ्यसाधनाः ॥
तेषाम् अपि समुद्रान्ता पितृपैतामही मही ॥
ślakṣṇā madhurasaṃbhāṣā jñātimadhye priyaṃvadāḥ ||
kulīnāḥ saṃmatāḥ prājñāḥ sukhaṃ prāpsyanti pāṇḍavāḥ ||
dharmāpekṣo naro nityaṃ sarvatra labhate sukham ||
pretyabhāve ca kalyāṇaṃ prasādaṃ pratipadyate ||
arhanty ardhaṃ pṛthivyās te bhoktuṃ sāmarthyasādhanāḥ ||
teṣām api samudrāntā pitṛpaitāmahī mahī ||
"Gentle, sweet-spoken, amiable in speech among kin, noble-born, respected, wise — the Pandavas will obtain happiness. A man who ever honors dharma obtains happiness everywhere, and in the afterlife good and grace. They deserve to enjoy half the earth, being able to win it; theirs too, as far as the ocean, is the ancestral, paternal land."
0934434961cf · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:45:02 PM UTC
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Dhritarashtra himself proclaims the law: "dharmāpekṣaḥ naraḥ nityaṃ sarvatra labhate sukham" — one who honors dharma is happy everywhere, both here and beyond the grave. And the Pandavas, righteous, rightly deserve their share. It is telling that the blind king knows the truth perfectly — and still did not let it act. The verse teaches a most bitter lesson: knowledge of dharma without the will to fulfill it is fruitless; to proclaim that righteousness leads to happiness while indulging one's son's wrongdoing is to testify against oneself, for truth not turned into deed condemns the one who knows it.