Shloka 6

Udyoga Parva Adhyāya 132 — Vidura’s Counsel on Udyama, Yaśas, and Kṣātra-Dharma

Devanagari script

निर्मन्युश्नाप्पसंख्येय: पुरुष: क्लीबसाधन: । यावज्जीवं निराशोडसि कल्याणाय धुरं वह

Transliteration

nirmanyuḥ śnāpasaṅkhyeyaḥ puruṣaḥ klībasādhanaḥ | yāvajjīvaṃ nirāśo ’si kalyāṇāya dhuraṃ vaha | tvaṃ sarvathā krodhaśūnyaḥ kṣatriyeṣu gaṇanāyogyo ’si | tvaṃ nāmamātrakaḥ puruṣaḥ | tava mana-ādīni sarvasādhānāni napuṃsakānām iva | kiṃ tvaṃ jīvanabharaṃ nirāśo ’bhavaḥ | are ’dya api uttiṣṭha, svakalyāṇāya punaḥ yuddhabhāraṃ vaha ||

Translation

Vāyu said: “You are without righteous anger; you are not even fit to be counted among kṣatriyas. You are a man only in name—your mind and all your faculties are like those of the impotent. Have you become hopeless for your whole life? Even now, rise up and, for your own good, take up again the burden of battle.”

Word by Word

• {'nirmanyuḥ': 'without (proper) anger or martial spirit

• free from indignation', 'puruṣaḥ': 'man

• person', 'nāmamātrakaḥ': 'only in name

• nominal', 'krodhaśūnyaḥ': 'devoid of anger (here: of kṣatriya-appropriate wrath/energy)', 'kṣatriyeṣu gaṇanāyogyaḥ': 'unfit to be counted among the kṣatriyas', 'klība': 'impotent

• unmanly (a harsh insult in heroic context)', 'sādhana': 'means, faculty, instrument (mind, senses, resolve, etc.)', 'manaḥ-ādīni': 'mind and the rest (of inner instruments/faculties)', 'nirāśaḥ': 'hopeless

• without expectation', 'yāvajjīvam': 'as long as one lives

• for life', 'kalyāṇāya': 'for welfare, good, auspicious outcome', 'dhuram': 'burden, yoke, responsibility', 'vaha': 'bear, carry (imperative)', 'uttiṣṭha': 'rise up! (imperative)', 'yuddhabhāraḥ': 'the burden/weight of war

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva (Wind-god)
• kṣatriyas (warrior class)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse urges a warrior to abandon hopelessness and reclaim kṣatriya-duty: inner strength, righteous indignation against adharma, and readiness to bear responsibility (the ‘burden’ of battle) are portrayed as essential for one’s welfare and honor.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva addresses a dejected warrior with sharp reproach, calling him ‘a man only in name’ and unfit among kṣatriyas, and commands him to rise and resume the duty of fighting for his own good.