Shloka 8

उद्योगपर्व — धृतराष्ट्रस्य दुर्योधनप्रति शक्तिस्मारक-उपदेशः

Udyoga Parva 63: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel Reminding Duryodhana of Opponent Strength

Devanagari script

विदुर उवाच तौ विवादमनुप्राप्ती शकुनौ मृत्युसंधितौ । विगृहा[ च सुददुर्बुद्धी पृथिव्यां संनिपेततु:,विदुरजी कहते हैं--राजन्‌! तदनन्तर कुछ ही देरमें कालके वशीभूत हुए वे दोनों दुर्बद्धि पक्षी आपसमें झगड़ने लगे और लड़ते-लड़ते पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़े

Transliteration

vidura uvāca | tau vivādam anuprāptau śakunau mṛtyusaṃdhitau | vigṛhya ca sudurdabuddhī pṛthivyāṃ saṃnipetatuḥ ||

Translation

Vidura sprach: Jene beiden Vögel, vom Zwang des Schicksals ergriffen, als wären sie bereits dem Tod verstrickt, gerieten in Streit. In ihrer schweren Verblendung zankten und kämpften sie miteinander, bis sie schließlich zur Erde hinabstürzten. Die Begebenheit lehrt: Wer Täuschung und Feindschaft nährt, wird unweigerlich dem Verderben entgegengetragen.

Word by Word

विदुरःVidura

उवाचsaid

तौthose two

विवादम्quarrel, dispute

अनुप्राप्तौhaving reached/entered into

शकुनौtwo birds

मृत्युसंधितौdestined for death / with death as their end

विगृह्यhaving fought/quarrelled

चand

सुदुर्बुद्धीvery foolish/ill-minded (two)

पृथिव्याम्on the earth

संनिपेततुःfell down together

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

two birds (śakunau)

earth (pṛthivī)

death (mṛtyu)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Uncontrolled hostility and deluded judgment (sudurdabuddhi) drive beings toward self-destruction; when one yields to quarrel, the end is often ruin, as if already 'bound for death' (mṛtyusaṃdhitau).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vidura narrates that two birds, overtaken by fate, begin to quarrel and fight; in the course of their struggle they fall down to the ground together, illustrating the fatal outcome of senseless conflict.