Shloka 9
विदुर उवाच युधिष्ठिर विजानीहि ममेदं भरतर्षभ । नाधर्मेण जित: कश्चिद् व्यथते वै पराजये,विदुर बोले--भरतकुलभूषण युधिष्ठिर! तुम मुझसे यह जान लो कि अधर्मसे पराजित होनेवाला कोई भी पुरुष अपनी उस पराजयके लिये दुःखी नहीं होता
vidura uvāca | yudhiṣṭhira vijānīhi mamedam bharatarṣabha | nādharmeṇa jitaḥ kaścid vyathate vai parājaye ||
Vidura said: “O Yudhiṣṭhira, bull among the Bharatas, understand this from me: no one who is defeated through adharma truly grieves over that defeat.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura teaches that a defeat inflicted through adharma does not morally diminish the defeated; the shame and burden belong to the one who wins by unrighteous means. Ethical evaluation depends on dharma, not merely on outward success.
In the Sabha Parva context of the dice-hall calamity, Vidura counsels Yudhiṣṭhira, reframing the Pāṇḍavas’ loss: since it occurred through deceit and injustice, it should not be taken as a true personal failure, but as evidence of the opponents’ adharma.