Shloka 39
Adhyaya 32: Saṃjaya’s Return, Audience with Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Ethical Admonition
जो अपने बलको न समझकर बिना काम किये ही धर्म और अर्थसे विरुद्ध तथा न पानेयोग्य वस्तुकी इच्छा करता है, वह पुरुष इस संसारमें मूढबुद्धि कहलाता है ।।
yo ’tmano balaṁ na vijānāti vinā karmaiva dharmārthābhyāṁ viruddhāṁ cānupapannāṁ ca vastūnām icchāṁ karoti sa iha loke mūḍhabuddhir ucyate || aśiṣyaṁ śāsti yo rājan yaś ca śūnyam upāsate | kadarīṁ bhajate yaś ca tam āhur mūḍhacetasam ||
Vidura says: A man is called dull-witted in this world when, failing to understand his own strength and capacity, he seeks—without doing the necessary work—things that are opposed to dharma and artha, or are in any case unattainable. Likewise, O King, one who instructs an unfit pupil, who worships what is empty and without substance, and who takes refuge with a miserly person—such a man is said to be of deluded mind.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True wisdom begins with knowing one’s own capacity and aligning desire with disciplined action and with dharma and artha. Delusion shows itself in chasing the impossible or unethical without effort, in giving instruction where it cannot bear fruit, in revering what is empty, and in seeking support from miserly, mean-spirited people.
In Udyoga Parva, Vidura offers moral and political counsel to the king (implicitly Dhṛtarāṣṭra) as tensions rise toward war. This verse is part of Vidura’s diagnostic teaching: he identifies behaviors that mark a person as misguided, warning the king against poor judgment in aims, teachers/disciples, objects of reverence, and alliances.