Shloka 2

उद्योगपर्व — विदुरनीतिः (Adhyāya 37): आयुःक्षयहेतवः, नीतिसूत्राणि, बलभेदाः, पाण्डव-विग्रहदोषदर्शनम्

Devanagari script

पीठं दत्त्वा साधवे$भ्यागताय आनीयाप: परिनिर्णिज्य पादौ | सुखं पृष्टवा प्रतिवेद्यात्मसंस्थां ततो दद्यादन्नमवेक्ष्य धीर:

Transliteration

pīṭhaṃ dattvā sādhave ’bhyāgatāya ānīyāpaḥ parinirṇijya pādau | sukhaṃ pṛṣṭvā prativedyātmasaṃsthāṃ tato dadyād annam avekṣya dhīraḥ ||

Translation

ধীর ব্যক্তি উচিত—যখন কোনো সাধুজন অতিথি হয়ে গৃহে আসেন, প্রথমে তাঁকে আসন দিতে, জল এনে তাঁর পা ধুয়ে দিতে; তারপর তাঁর কুশল জিজ্ঞাসা করে নিজের অবস্থাও জানাতে; এবং তাঁর প্রয়োজন বুঝে পরে অন্নভোজন প্রদান করতে।

Word by Word

• {'pīṭham': 'a seat, stool, or place to sit (āsana)', 'dattvā': 'having given', 'sādhave': 'to a good/virtuous person

• to a saintly man', 'abhyāgatāya': 'to one who has come/arrived (as a guest)', 'ānīya': 'having brought', 'āpaḥ': 'water', 'parinirṇijya': 'having washed/cleansed thoroughly', 'pādau': 'the two feet', 'sukham': 'well-being, comfort, welfare', 'pṛṣṭvā': 'having asked/inquired', 'prativedya': 'having informed/told in return', 'ātma-saṃsthām': 'one’s own condition/state (of affairs)', 'tataḥ': 'then, thereafter', 'dadyāt': 'should give (optative: a prescription of duty)', 'annam': 'food, meal', 'avekṣya': 'having considered/observed

• with due regard to (need, propriety)', 'dhīraḥ': 'the wise, steady, discerning person'}

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• sādhu (virtuous guest)
• pīṭha (seat)
• āpaḥ (water)
• pāda (feet)
• anna (food)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The core teaching is atithi-dharma: a wise person should honor a virtuous guest through respectful reception—offering a seat, water for washing the feet, courteous inquiry, and then providing food according to the guest’s need.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vidura is instructing proper ethical conduct in the royal/householder setting during the Udyoga Parva: he lays out the step-by-step protocol of receiving a good person who arrives as a guest, emphasizing discernment and reverence as marks of the dhīra (wise).