Shloka 12
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 40 — Vidura’s Ethical Counsel and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Fatalistic Turn
विषहेरन् भयामर्षो क्षुत्पिपासे मदोद्धवौ । अरतिकश्लैव तन्द्री च कामक्रोधौ क्षयोदयौ
viṣaherann bhayāmarṣo kṣutpipāse madoddhavau | aratikaś caiva tandrī ca kāmakrodhau kṣayodayau ||
বৈশম্পায়ন বললেন—তারা ভয় ও অমর্ষ, ক্ষুধা ও তৃষ্ণা, মদজনিত উথাল-পাথাল; আর অরতি, ক্লৈব্য ও তন্দ্রা—এবং কাম ও ক্রোধকে সহ্য করল, যা কখনো ক্ষয় পায়, কখনো উদয় হয়।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical discipline of endurance and self-mastery: fear, resentment, hunger, thirst, lethargy, discontent, desire, and anger fluctuate (rise and fall), and one’s steadiness in dharma is tested by bearing them without being driven by them.
In the Udyoga Parva’s build-up to war, Vaiśampāyana describes the pressures people undergo—physical hardships and mental agitations—and notes how passions like desire and anger alternately intensify and subside amid the tense preparations and negotiations.