Devanagari
क एनमत्रोपजुहाव जिह्मं
दास्या: सुतं यद्बलिनैव पुष्ट: ।
तस्मिन् प्रतीप: परकृत्य आस्ते
निर्वास्यतामाशु पुराच्छ्वसान: ॥ १५ ॥
Verse text
ka enam atropajuhāva jihmaṁ
dāsyāḥ sutaṁ yad-balinaiva puṣṭaḥ
tasmin pratīpaḥ parakṛtya āste
nirvāsyatām āśu purāc chvasānaḥ
Synonyms
kaḥ
—
who
;
enam
—
this
;
atra
—
here
;
upajuhāva
—
called for
;
jihmam
—
crooked
;
dāsyāḥ
—
of a kept mistress
;
sutam
—
son
;
yat
—
whose
;
balinā
—
by whose subsistence
;
eva
—
certainly
;
puṣṭaḥ
—
grown up
;
tasmin
—
unto him
;
pratīpaḥ
—
enmity
;
para
—
kṛtya — enemy’s interest
;
āste
—
situated
;
nirvāsyatām
—
get him out
;
āśu
—
immediately
;
purāt
—
from the palace
;
śvasānaḥ
—
let him breathe only .
Translation
Who asked him to come here, this son of a kept mistress? He is so crooked that he spies in the interest of the enemy against those on whose support he has grown up. Toss him out of the palace immediately and leave him with only his breath.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
“Who has called this wicked son of a maidservant into the assembly? Betraying those who have nourished him, he supports the enemy. Drive him from the city with only his breath.”
This verse describes the scolding. “Who has called him into the great assembly? He does not deserve to be called here, because he is the son of a maidservant, with low birth. Thus he is deceitful (jihmam). By his actions as well he is deceitful. He betrays his master whose food nourishes him and performs actions for the enemy. If he stays here he will destroy the whole family. Whoever is on my side should remove him from this place. Do it quickly, do not delay! Only his breath should remain. This means beat him with canes till he is breathless.” Another version has śmaśāna instead of śvasānaḥ This means “Vidura is inauspicious like a place where they burn dead bodies. Remove from this house that person who creates inauspiciousness for me. Do it quickly, otherwise he will make the whole kingdom inauspicious.”
Purport
When getting married, the
kṣatriya
kings would take on several other youthful girls along with the married princess. These girl attendants of the king were known as
dāsīs,
or attendant mistresses. By intimate association with the king, the
dāsīs
would get sons. Such sons were called
dāsī-putras.
They had no claim to a royal position, but they would get maintenance and other facilities just like princes. Vidura was the son of such a
dāsī,
and he was thus not counted amongst the
kṣatriyas.
King Dhṛtarāṣṭra was very affectionate toward his younger
dāsī-putra
brother, Vidura, and Vidura was a great friend and philosophical advisor to Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Duryodhana knew very well that Vidura was a great soul and well-wisher, but unfortunately he used strong words to hurt his innocent uncle. Duryodhana not only attacked Vidura’s birth, but also called him an infidel because he seemed to support the cause of Yudhiṣṭhira, whom Duryodhana considered his enemy. He desired that Vidura be immediately put out of the palace and deprived of all his possessions. If possible, he would have liked him caned until he was left with nothing but his breath. He charged that Vidura was a spy of the Pāṇḍavas because he advised King Dhṛtarāṣṭra in their favor. Such is the situation of palace life and the intricacies of diplomacy that even a faultless person like Vidura could be charged with something abominable and punished. Vidura was struck with wonder at such unexpected behavior from his nephew Duryodhana, and before anything actually happened, he decided to leave the palace for good.