Shloka 46

Sanatsujāta-Āhvāna (Summoning Sanatsujāta) — Vidura’s Invocation and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Doubt

Devanagari script

द्वाराणि तस्येह वदन्ति सन्‍्तो बहुप्रकाराणि दुराधराणि । सत्यार्जवे ह्वीर्दमशौचविद्या यथा न मोहप्रतिबोधनानि

Transliteration

dvārāṇi tasyeha vadanti santaḥ bahuprakārāṇi durādharāṇi | satyārjave hrīr damaś śaucavidyā yathā na mohapratibodhanāni ||

Translation

Die Weisen erklären, dass es hier, in dieser Welt, vielerlei „Tore“ zu jenem höheren Gut gibt—Tore, die schwer zu wahren sind. Es sind: Wahrhaftigkeit, Geradheit, Schamhaftigkeit, Selbstzucht, Reinheit und wahre Erkenntnis. Diese Eigenschaften wecken keine Verblendung, sondern rütteln aus ihr auf.

Word by Word

• {'dvārāṇi': 'doors, gateways

• means of access', 'tasya': 'of that (goal/attainment, i.e., the highest good or true prosperity)', 'iha': 'here, in this world/this life', 'vadanti': 'they say, they declare', 'santaḥ': 'the good, the wise, the virtuous', 'bahuprakārāṇi': 'of many kinds, manifold', 'durādharāṇi': 'hard to bear/maintain

• difficult to practice steadily', 'satya': 'truthfulness

• commitment to truth in speech and conduct', 'ārjava (ārjave)': 'straightforwardness, sincerity, absence of crookedness', 'hrīḥ (hrīr)': 'modesty, moral shame

• inner restraint from wrongdoing', 'damaḥ (damaś)': 'self-control

• restraint of senses and impulses', 'śauca': 'purity, cleanliness

• inner and outer purity', 'vidyā': 'true knowledge

• discriminative understanding aligned with dharma', 'yathā': 'such that

• in a manner that', 'na': 'not', 'moha': 'delusion, confusion, moral blindness', 'pratibodhanāni': 'awakenings/arousals

• that which stirs up (here: of delusion)'}

Speaker

सनत्युजात उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanatsujāta
• santaḥ (the wise/virtuous)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sanatsujāta teaches that access to the highest good is gained through difficult but purifying virtues—truth, straightforwardness, modesty, self-restraint, purity, and knowledge—which dispel delusion rather than intensify it.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Sanatsujātīya section of Udyoga Parva, Sanatsujāta instructs (in a didactic dialogue) on dharma and spiritual welfare, listing the key virtues that serve as ‘gateways’ to true prosperity and awakening.