Shloka 43
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 34 — Vidura’s Counsel on Deliberation, Speech-Discipline, and Dharmic Kingship
मद्यपानं कलहूं, पूगवैरं भार्यपत्योरन्तरं ज्ञातिभेदम् । राजद्विष्ट॑ स्त्रीपुंसयोविवादं वर्ज्यान्याहुर्यश्व॒ पन्था: प्रदुष्ट:,शराब पीना, कलह, समूहके साथ वैर, पति-पत्नीमें भेद पैदा करना, कुटुम्बवालोंमें भेदबुद्धि उत्पन्न करना, राजाके साथ द्वेष, स्त्री और पुरुषमें विवाद और बुरे रास्ते--ये सब त्याग देनेयोग्य बताये गये हैं
madyapānaṃ kalahaṃ pūgavairaṃ bhāryāpatyor antaraṃ jñātibhedam | rājadviṣṭaṃ strīpuṃsayor vivādaṃ varjyāny āhur yaś ca panthāḥ praduṣṭaḥ ||
Vidura declares that certain habits and actions are to be renounced because they corrode harmony and dharma: drinking intoxicants, fomenting quarrels, nurturing enmity with one’s own group, creating estrangement between husband and wife, and sowing division among relatives. He adds that hostility toward the king, disputes between women and men, and any path of conduct that is morally tainted are likewise to be avoided.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura teaches that dharma is protected by restraint and concord: avoid intoxicants, quarrels, factional hatred, and any conduct that creates rifts in marriage, family, society, or loyalty to rightful authority; a corrupted ‘path’ of life should be abandoned.
In Udyoga Parva, Vidura offers nīti-counsel in the tense lead-up to war, warning that personal vices and social divisiveness—especially within families and political order—accelerate ruin and should be renounced.