Shloka 3
अध्याय ३९: विदुरेण धृतराष्ट्राय नीत्युपदेशः
Timely Counsel, Association, and Kin-Duty
अनृते च समुत्कर्षो राजगामि च पैशुनम् । गुरोश्वनालीकनिर्बन्ध: समानि ब्रह्महत्यया
anṛte ca samutkarṣo rājagāmi ca paiśunam | guroś cānālīka-nirbandhaḥ samāni brahmahatyayā ||
Vidura erklärt, dass gewisse moralische Verfehlungen so schwer wie die Sünde der Tötung eines Brāhmaṇa sind: Selbstüberhöhung auf der Grundlage von Unwahrheit, Verleumdung und Denunziation, die bis an das Ohr des Königs dringen, und das hartnäckige Beharren auf einer Lüge selbst in Angelegenheiten, die den eigenen Lehrer betreffen.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura teaches that speech-based wrongs—boasting founded on lies, malicious slander that influences royal judgment, and stubbornly clinging to an untruth (even in relation to one’s teacher)—can be as spiritually and socially ruinous as the gravest sin, brahmahatyā. Truthful, restrained speech is presented as essential to dharma.
In Udyoga Parva’s counsel-setting, Vidura is instructing and admonishing about conduct before the great conflict. He highlights how courtly environments amplify the harm of rumor and falsehood—especially when words reach the king—and he underscores the sanctity of truthful dealings with one’s guru.