Shloka 61
Ārjava, Satya, and the Virocana–Sudhanvan Exemplum
Udyoga-parva 35
ब्राह्मणेषु च ये शूरा: स्त्रीषु ज्ञातिषु गोषु च वृन्तादिव फलं पक्वं धृतराष्ट्र पतन्ति ते
brāhmaṇeṣu ca ye śūrāḥ strīṣu jñātiṣu goṣu ca | vṛntādiva phalaṃ pakvaṃ dhṛtarāṣṭra patanti te ||
Vidura warnt Dhṛtarāṣṭra: „Wer sein ‘Heldentum’ nur an Wehrlosen zeigt—an Brāhmaṇas, Frauen, den eigenen Verwandten und am Vieh—ist nicht wahrhaft tapfer. Wie reife Frucht, die vom Stiel fällt, stürzen solche Männer unweigerlich aus Ehre, Bestand und aus dem rechten Stand im Dharma.“
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Real valor is measured by restraint and righteousness, not by aggression toward the weak or protected classes. Those who bully Brahmins, women, relatives, or cattle invite inevitable moral and social collapse—symbolized by ripe fruit falling from its stalk.
In Vidura’s counsel to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra during the tense pre-war negotiations, Vidura criticizes the Kaurava side’s unethical displays of power and warns that such adharma leads to downfall.