Shloka 5

Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 40 — Vidura’s Ethical Counsel and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Fatalistic Turn

Devanagari script

विदुर उवाच शूद्रयोनावहं जातो नातो<न्‍्यद्‌ वक्तुमुत्सहे । कुमारस्य तु या बुद्धिवेद तां शाश्वतीमहम्‌,विदुर बोले--राजन्‌! मेरा जन्म शाूद्रा स्त्रीके गर्भसे हुआ है, अतः (मेरा अधिकार न होनेसे) इसके अतिरिक्त और कोई उपदेश देनेका मैं साहस नहीं कर सकता, किंतु कुमार सनत्सुजातकी बुद्धि सनातन है, मैं उसे जानता हूँ

Transliteration

vidura uvāca | śūdrayonāv ahaṁ jāto nāto 'nyad vaktum utsahe | kumārasya tu yā buddhir veda tāṁ śāśvatīm aham ||

Translation

Vidura sprach: „O König, ich wurde aus dem Schoß einer Śūdra-Frau geboren; darum wage ich nicht, weiter zu sprechen (da mir die rechte Befugnis fehlt). Doch die ewige Weisheit, die dem Jüngling Sanatsujāta eigen ist, kenne ich.“

Word by Word

• {'śūdra-yoni': 'a Śūdra womb

• birth from a Śūdra mother', 'aham': 'I', 'jātaḥ': 'born', 'na': 'not', 'ataḥ': 'therefore

• for that reason', 'anyat': 'anything else

• further (speech/teaching)', 'vaktum': 'to speak

• to expound', 'utsahe': 'I dare

• I am able/venture', 'kumārasya': 'of the Kumāra (youth)

• here, Sanatsujāta', 'tu': 'but

• however', 'yā': 'which', 'buddhiḥ': 'intelligence

• wisdom', 'veda': 'knows

• understands (from √vid)', 'tām': 'that (feminine accusative)', 'śāśvatīm': 'eternal

• everlasting', 'aham veda': 'I know'}

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• Sanatsujāta (Kumāra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura expresses humility about his social birth and thus refrains from presenting himself as an authoritative teacher, while affirming that Sanatsujāta possesses timeless, authoritative wisdom—implying that true guidance should be sought from the most spiritually qualified source.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva context, Vidura is addressing the king and, instead of continuing his own instruction, points toward Sanatsujāta as the appropriate speaker whose knowledge is eternal, setting up Sanatsujāta’s forthcoming discourse.