Shloka 326
Udyoga Parva Adhyāya 132 — Vidura’s Counsel on Udyama, Yaśas, and Kṣātra-Dharma
क्षमावान् निरमर्षश्न नैव स्त्री न पुन: पुमान् । जिस क्षत्रियके हृदयमें अमर्ष है और जो शत्रुओंके प्रति क्षमाभाव धारण नहीं करता
kṣamāvān niramārṣaś ca naiva strī na punaḥ pumān |
Vāyu said: “One who is truly patient and free from vindictive resentment is to be regarded as neither ‘woman’ nor ‘man’ in the warrior’s sense. For it is the Kṣatriya’s inner fire of righteous indignation and his refusal to indulge enemies with misplaced forbearance that mark him as a ‘man’ in this ethical-heroic register; but one who is merely forgiving and devoid of such spirited resolve is not fit to be called either a Kṣatriya or, in that idiom, even properly ‘male.’”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts two dispositions—kṣamā (forbearance) and amarṣa (spirited indignation). In a Kṣatriya-centered moral idiom, mere forgiveness without martial resolve is criticized; the teaching asserts that a warrior’s identity is tied to protective firmness and intolerance of affronts or injustice, not to passive forbearance.
Vāyudeva is speaking within the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war counsel and moral debate, where different voices articulate what conduct is appropriate as conflict approaches. Here he frames an idealized (and polemical) definition of Kṣatriya character, emphasizing mettle and readiness to oppose enemies.