यदा तु राजा स्वसुतानसाधून्पुष्णन्न धर्मेण विनष्टदृष्टिः ।
भ्रातुर्यविष्ठस्य सुतान्विबन्धून्प्रवेश्य लाक्षाभवने ददाह ॥६॥
Å›rÄ«-Å›uka uvÄca
yadÄ tu rÄjÄ sva-sutÄn asÄdhÅ«n
puṣṇan na dharmeṇa vinaá¹£á¹a-dṛṣá¹iḥ
bhrÄtur yaviá¹£á¹hasya sutÄn vibandhÅ«n
praveÅ›ya lÄká¹£Ä-bhavane dadÄha
Å›rÄ«-Å›ukaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said; yadÄ - when; tu - but; rÄjÄ - King Dhá¹›tarÄá¹£á¹ra; sva-sutÄn - his own sons; asÄdhÅ«n - dishonest; puṣṇan - nourishing; na - never; dharmeṇa - on the right path; vinaá¹£á¹a-dṛṣá¹iḥ - one who has lost his insight; bhrÄtuḥ - of his brother; yaviá¹£á¹hasya - younger; sutÄn - sons; vibandhÅ«n - having no guardian (father); praveÅ›ya - made to enter; lÄká¹£Ä - lacquer; bhavane - in the house; dadÄha - set on fire.
ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: King Dhá¹›tarÄá¹£á¹ra became blind under the influence of impious desires to nourish his dishonest sons, and thus he set fire to the lacquer house to burn his fatherless nephews, the PÄṇá¸avas.
Dhá¹›tarÄá¹£á¹ra was blind from birth, but his blindness in committing impious activities to support his dishonest sons was a greater blindness than his physical lack of eyesight. The physical lack of sight does not bar one from spiritual progress. But when one is blind spiritually, even though physically fit, that blindness is dangerously detrimental to the progressive path of human life.
