Shloka 115
Adhyaya 32: Saṃjaya’s Return, Audience with Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Ethical Admonition
दम्भं मोहं मत्सरं पापकृत्यं राजद्विष्ट॑ पैशुनं पूगवैरम् । मत्तोन्मत्तैर्दुर्जनैश्वापि वाद॑ यः प्रज्ञावान् वर्जयेत् स प्रधान:
dambhaṁ mohaṁ matsaraṁ pāpakṛtyaṁ rājadvaiṣṭaṁ paiśunaṁ pūgavairam | mattonmattair durjanaiś cāpi vādaṁ yaḥ prajñāvān varjayet sa pradhānaḥ ||
One who is truly wise avoids hypocrisy, delusion, envy, sinful conduct, hostility toward the king, slander, factional feuds, and even quarrels with intoxicated, deranged, or wicked people. Such a person is to be regarded as foremost.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Wisdom is shown less by winning arguments and more by refusing morally corrosive habits—hypocrisy, envy, slander, factional hatred, disloyalty to rightful authority—and by not wasting one’s mind in disputes with the intoxicated, deranged, or wicked.
In the Udyoga Parva’s counsel-setting, Vidura delivers nīti (statecraft and ethical instruction), outlining the vices and social behaviors a prudent person should avoid as tensions move toward the Kurukṣetra war.