Shloka 121
Adhyaya 32: Saṃjaya’s Return, Audience with Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Ethical Admonition
य आत्मनापत्रपते भृशं नरः स सर्वलोकस्य गुरुर्भवत्युत । अनन्ततेजा: सुमना: समाहित: स तेजसा सूर्य इवावभासते
ya ātmanāpatrapate bhṛśaṁ naraḥ sa sarvalokasya gurur bhavaty uta | anantatejāḥ sumanāḥ samāhitaḥ sa tejasā sūrya ivāvabhāsate ||
Vidura says: The man who feels deep shame before his own self—who is strongly restrained by inner conscience—becomes, indeed, a teacher and exemplar for all the world. Possessed of limitless radiance, pure-minded and collected in concentration, he shines by his moral splendor like the sun.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True moral greatness arises from inner conscience: one who feels deep shame before his own self avoids wrongdoing even without external pressure, and thus becomes a guide for society; such integrity gives a person a radiant, sun-like moral presence.
In Udyoga Parva, Vidura delivers ethical counsel (nīti) amid the tense pre-war negotiations; here he praises the person governed by self-shame and inner restraint as the world’s true ‘guru,’ emphasizing character as the foundation of authority.