Shloka 41
Udyoga Parva Adhyāya 132 — Vidura’s Counsel on Udyama, Yaśas, and Kṣātra-Dharma
भृत्यैर्विहीयमानानां परपिण्डोपजीविनाम् । कृपणानामसत्त्वानां मा वृत्तिमनुवर्तिथा:,संजय! भृत्यहीन, दूसरोंके अन्नपर जीनेवाले, दीन-दुर्बल मनुष्योंकी वृत्तिका अनुसरण न कर
bhṛtyair vihīyamānānāṃ parapīṇḍopajīvinām | kṛpaṇānām asattvānāṃ mā vṛttim anuvartithāḥ, saṃjaya |
O Saṃjaya, do not model your conduct on those wretched, spiritless men who have been abandoned by their dependents and live by eating another’s bread. Do not adopt the livelihood or mentality of the weak who survive by servile dependence; hold to a dignified, self-respecting course of action.
पुत्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns against adopting a life of servile dependence—living on others’ support and losing one’s inner strength. Ethically, it upholds self-respect, steadiness of character (vṛtti), and the refusal to sink into cowardice or opportunism.
In Udyoga Parva’s pre-war counsel and negotiations, a ‘son’ addresses Saṃjaya directly, urging him not to follow the example of degraded, dependent men. The line functions as moral exhortation within the tense lead-up to the Kurukṣetra conflict.