Shloka 73

Ārjava, Satya, and the Virocana–Sudhanvan Exemplum

Udyoga-parva 35

Devanagari script

मेढी भूत: कौरवाणां त्वमद्य त्वय्याधीनं कुरुकूलमाजमीढ । पार्थान्‌ बालान्‌ वनवासप्रतप्तान्‌ गोपायस्व स्वं यशस्तात रक्षन्‌,अजमीढकुलनन्दन! इस समय आप ही कौरवोंके आधारस्तम्भ हैं, कुरुवंश आपके ही अधीन है। तात! कुन्तीके पुत्र अभी बालक हैं और वनवाससे बहुत कष्ट पा चुके हैं; इस समय उनका पालन करके अपने यशकी रक्षा कीजिये

Transliteration

meḍhī-bhūtaḥ kauravāṇāṃ tvam adya tvayy ādhīnaṃ kuru-kulam ājamīḍa | pārthān bālān vana-vāsa-prataptān gopāyasva svaṃ yaśas tāta rakṣan || ajamīḍa-kula-nandana ||

Translation

Vidura said: “Today you are the very pillar on which the Kauravas rest; O descendant of Ajamīḍha, the Kuru lineage depends upon you. The sons of Pṛthā are still young and have been scorched by the hardships of exile—protect them now, dear one, and in doing so safeguard your own good name, O delight of Ajamīḍha’s line.”

Word by Word

• {'meḍhī-bhūtaḥ': 'having become the central post/pillar

• main support', 'kauravāṇām': 'of the Kauravas', 'tvam adya': 'you, today/at this time', 'tvayi ādhīnam': 'dependent on you

• resting upon you', 'kuru-kulam': 'the Kuru family/lineage', 'ājamīḍa': 'O descendant of Ajamīḍha (epithet addressing a Kuru elder)', 'pārthān': 'the sons of Pṛthā (Kuntī), i.e., the Pāṇḍavas', 'bālān': 'young

• still not fully mature/established', 'vana-vāsa': 'dwelling in the forest

• exile', 'prataptān': 'tormented, scorched, afflicted (by suffering)', 'gopāyasva': 'protect

• foster', 'svam yaśaḥ': 'one’s own fame/reputation', 'tāta': 'dear one

• fatherly address (term of respect/affection)', 'rakṣan': 'protecting

• while safeguarding', 'ajamīḍa-kula-nandana': 'delight/ornament of Ajamīḍha’s lineage'}

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• Kauravas
• Kuru-kula (Kuru dynasty)
• Ajamīḍha
• Pārthas (sons of Kuntī/Pāṇḍavas)
• Vana-vāsa (exile in the forest)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura frames political power as moral responsibility: the one who upholds the dynasty must protect those who are vulnerable (the Pāṇḍavas after exile). True honor (yaśas) is preserved not by domination but by righteous guardianship and restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, as tensions rise toward war, Vidura counsels the Kuru elder (implicitly Dhṛtarāṣṭra) that the stability of the Kuru house rests on him. He urges protection and fair treatment of Kuntī’s sons, who have suffered in forest exile, warning that the dynasty’s reputation depends on this conduct.