Shloka 12
Saṃsāra-gahana-jñāna: Vidura’s Account of Embodiment, Bondage, and Dharmic Release (संसारगहन-ज्ञानम्)
अहो विनिकृतो लोको लोभेन च वशीकृत: । लोभक्रोधभयोन्मत्तो नात्मानमवबुध्यते,अहो! लोभके वशीभूत होकर यह सारा संसार ठगा जा रहा है। लोभ, क्रोध और भयसे यह इतना पागल हो गया है कि अपने-आपको भी नहीं जानता
aho vinikṛto loko lobhena ca vaśīkṛtaḥ | lobhakrodhabhayonmatto nātmānam avabudhyate ||
Vidura laments that the world is being deceived and ruined under the domination of greed. Driven into frenzy by greed, anger, and fear, people lose self-knowledge and fail to recognize their own true welfare and moral direction.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Greed enslaves the mind and, together with anger and fear, produces moral confusion. When these forces dominate, a person loses discernment and even fails to recognize the self—meaning one’s true welfare, conscience, and dharmic orientation.
In Strī Parva, amid grief and reflection after the war, Vidura voices a moral diagnosis of human downfall: society is ‘cheated’ because people become controlled by greed, and the resulting anger and fear drive them into a frenzy that destroys self-awareness and right conduct.