Shloka 20
Saṃsāra-mārga-vistaraḥ
Vidura’s Expanded Account of the Path
अनुतर्षुलमेवैतद् दुःखं भवति मारिष | राज्यनाशं सुहृन्नाश॑ सुतनाशं च भारत,माननीय भारत! जिसकी तृष्णा बढ़ी हुई है, उसीको राज्य, सुहृद् और पुत्रोंका नाशरूपी यह महान् दुःख प्राप्त होता है
anutarṣulam evaitad duḥkhaṃ bhavati māriṣa | rājyānāśaṃ suhṛnnāśaṃ sutanāśaṃ ca bhārata ||
Vidura said: O noble one, O Bhārata—this great sorrow comes only to the insatiably craving: the ruin of one’s kingdom, the loss of trusted friends, and the destruction of one’s sons.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unchecked craving (tṛṣṇā/greed) is the root that brings catastrophic suffering—political ruin and the collapse of one’s closest human bonds—so self-restraint is essential for dharmic kingship and personal integrity.
In the aftermath of the war’s devastation, Vidura admonishes the Kuru elder addressed as ‘Bhārata,’ interpreting the calamities—loss of sovereignty, allies, and sons—as the bitter fruit of insatiable desire and attachment to power.