Shloka 53
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 34 — Vidura’s Counsel on Deliberation, Speech-Discipline, and Dharmic Kingship
एतान् गुणांस्तात महानुभावा- नेको गुण: संश्रयते प्रसहा । राजा यदा सत्कुरुते मनुष्यं सर्वान् गुणानेष गुणो विभाति,तात! एक गुण ऐसा है, जो इन सभी महत्त्वपूर्ण गुणोंपर हठात् अधिकार जमा लेता है। जिस समय राजा किसी मनुष्यका सत्कार करता है, उस समय यह एक ही गुण (राजसम्मान) सभी गुणोंसे बढ़कर शोभा पाता है
etān guṇāṁs tāta mahānubhāvān eko guṇaḥ saṁśrayate prasahā | rājā yadā satkurute manuṣyaṁ sarvān guṇān eṣa guṇo vibhāti ||
Vidura said: “Dear one, among these noble qualities, there is a single quality that forcefully takes them all under its shelter. When a king honors a person, that one factor—royal recognition—outshines all other virtues and makes them appear foremost.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura highlights how social and political power can eclipse intrinsic merit: a king’s public honor can make one quality—royal recognition—appear greater than all other virtues, warning that reputation and status may not reflect true character.
In Vidura’s counsel during the Udyoga Parva, he reflects on human valuation in royal courts: when the king bestows respect on someone, that act of recognition becomes the dominant ‘quality’ in the eyes of society, reshaping how all other virtues are perceived.