Shloka 26
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय 33: धृतराष्ट्र-विदुर संवादः (विदुरनीतिः)
यस्मात् त्रस्यन्ति भूतानि मृगव्याधान्मृगा इव । सागरान्तामपि महीं लब्ध्वा स परिहीयते,जैसे व्याधसे हरिन भयभीत होते हैं, उसी प्रकार जिससे समस्त प्राणी डरते हैं, वह समुद्रपर्यन्त पृथ्वीका राज्य पाकर भी प्रजाजनोंके द्वारा त्याग दिया जाता है
yasmāt trasyanti bhūtāni mṛgavyādhān mṛgā iva | sāgarāntām api mahīṁ labdhvā sa parihīyate ||
Vidura says: The man from whom all creatures recoil in fear—like deer terrified of a hunter—will be abandoned by his own subjects, even if he has obtained sovereignty over the whole earth bounded by the sea. Rule founded on terror destroys legitimacy and invites desertion, however vast the kingdom may be.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler who governs through fear becomes detestable and unstable; even the greatest territorial power cannot secure loyalty if subjects live in terror. True kingship rests on protection, justice, and trust rather than intimidation.
In the Udyoga Parva’s counsel and negotiations before the great war, Vidura delivers moral-political instruction (nīti) to warn against oppressive conduct. He uses the vivid simile of deer fleeing a hunter to describe how people naturally withdraw from a fear-inducing ruler, ultimately abandoning him despite his vast dominion.