Shloka 15
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 34 — Vidura’s Counsel on Deliberation, Speech-Discipline, and Dharmic Kingship
विरोचन उवाच तवा्हते तु फलकं कूर्च वाप्यथवा बृसी । सुधन्वन् न त्वमहोंडसि मया सह समासनम्,विरोचनने कहा--सुधन्वन्! तुम्हारे लिये तो पीढ़ा, चटाई या कुशका आसन उचित है; तुम मेरे साथ बराबरके आसनपर बैठनेयोग्य हो ही नहीं
virocana uvāca | tavārhate tu phalakaṃ kūrca vāpy athavā bṛsī | sudhanvan na tvam ahoṇḍasi mayā saha samāsanam ||
Virocana said: “For you, a low stool, a mat, or even a seat of kuśa-grass is what is fitting. O Sudhanvan, you are not—indeed not at all—worthy to sit on the same seat with me.”
विरोचन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how arrogance and contempt expressed through speech—especially by denying another equal dignity (‘not worthy of the same seat’)—is ethically blameworthy and can escalate conflict; proper conduct (dharma) includes restraint, respect, and measured speech.
Virocana addresses Sudhanvan with open disdain, saying that Sudhanvan deserves only an inferior seat (stool/mat/grass seat) and is unfit to sit on an equal seat with him, thereby asserting superiority and humiliating him.