Shloka 40
Udyoga Parva Adhyāya 132 — Vidura’s Counsel on Udyama, Yaśas, and Kṣātra-Dharma
मातोवाच किमद्यकानां ये लोका द्विषन्तस्तानवाप्नुयु: । ये त्वादृतात्मनां लोका: सुहृदस्तान् व्रजन्तु नः,विदुला बोली--बेटा! आज क्या भोजन होगा? इस प्रकारकी चिन्तामें पड़े हुए दरिद्रोंके जो लोक हैं, वे हमारे शत्रुओंको प्राप्त हों और सर्वत्र सम्मानित होनेवाले पुण्यात्मा पुरुषोंके जो लोक हैं, उनमें हमारे हितैषी सुहृद् पधारें
putra uvāca: mātovāca kim adyakānāṁ ye lokā dviṣantas tān avāpnuyuḥ | ye tv ādaritātmanāṁ lokāḥ suhṛdas tān vrajantu naḥ ||
The mother said: “‘What shall we eat today?’ May the worlds that belong to those who brood over such day-to-day hunger and poverty fall to our enemies; and may our well-wishing friends attain the worlds of the virtuous—those noble souls who are honored everywhere.”
पुत्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts a life reduced to anxious concern for mere subsistence with the ideal of honorable, respected virtue. It implies that fixation on ‘What will we eat today?’ is spiritually degrading, while noble conduct and self-respect lead to higher ‘worlds’ (better destinies) for oneself and one’s well-wishers.
In the Vidulā episode, the son reports (or echoes) the mother’s sharp, provocative words. She uses a blessing-and-curse formulation: let the miserable fate of hunger-bound living go to enemies, while friends attain the realms of honored, virtuous people—thereby urging her son toward courage, dignity, and purposeful action.