Shloka 23
Ārjava, Satya, and the Virocana–Sudhanvan Exemplum
Udyoga-parva 35
विदुर उवाच तपो दमो ब्रह्मवित्तं विताना: पुण्या विवाहा: सततान्नदानम् | येष्वेवैते सप्त गुणा वसन्ति सम्यग्वृत्तास्तानि महाकुलानि
vidura uvāca—tapo damo brahmavittaṃ vitānāḥ puṇyā vivāhāḥ satatānna-dānam | yeṣv evaite sapta guṇā vasanti samyag-vṛttās tāni mahā-kulāni ||
Vidura sprach: O König, jene Familien, in denen diese sieben Tugenden wahrhaft wohnen—tapas (asketische Zucht), dama (Selbstbeherrschung), Erkenntnis von Veda und Brahman, die Pflege der Opferhandlungen (yajña), reine und rechtmäßige Ehen, fortwährende Speisung der Bedürftigen und rechtschaffener Wandel—werden mit Recht große und edle Geschlechter genannt.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Nobility of birth is validated by lived virtues: discipline, self-restraint, Vedic/Brahman-knowledge, sustaining sacred rites, pure marriage practices, continual food-charity, and upright conduct. A ‘great family’ is defined ethically, not merely by ancestry.
In Vidura’s counsel to the king during the Udyoga Parva’s tense pre-war deliberations, he sets a moral standard for what counts as true high lineage, redirecting attention from pride of birth to dharmic behavior and public-minded virtue.