Shloka 40
चलचित्तमनात्मानमिन्द्रियाणां वशानुगम् | अर्था: समभिवर्तन्ते हंसा: शुष्क॑ सरो यथा,जैसे सूखे सरोवरके ऊपर ही हंस मँड़राकर रह जाते हैं, उसके भीतर नहीं प्रवेश करते, उसी प्रकार जिसका चित्त चंचल है, जो अज्ञानी और इन्द्रियोंका गुलाम है, अर्थ उसको त्याग देते हैं
calacittam anātmānam indriyāṇāṁ vaśānugam | arthāḥ samabhivartante haṁsāḥ śuṣka-saro yathā ||
Vidura says: Wealth and opportunities do not stay with a person whose mind is restless, who lacks self-mastery, and who follows the sway of the senses. Just as swans circle over a dried-up lake and do not enter it, so do material gains approach such a person only to abandon him—because inner discipline is absent.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura teaches that prosperity is sustained by self-mastery. A fickle mind and slavery to the senses destroy steadiness, so wealth and opportunities do not remain; they merely appear and then depart.
In Vidura’s counsel during the Udyoga Parva, he delivers moral instruction (Vidura-nīti), warning that inner instability and sense-driven living undermine one’s capacity to retain artha (resources and success).