Shloka 54
हंस–साध्यसंवादः, वाक्-निग्रहः, महाकुल-लक्षणम्, शान्ति-उपायः
Hamsa–Sādhya Dialogue; Restraint of Speech; Marks of Noble Lineage; Means to Peace
यत् त्वस्य सहजं राजन पितृपैतामहं बलम् । अभिजातबलं नाम तच्चतुर्थ बल॑ स्मृतम्
yat tv asya sahajaṃ rājan pitṛpaitāmahaṃ balam | abhijātabalaṃ nāma tac caturthaṃ balaṃ smṛtam ||
“But, O King, the strength that is natural to a man—derived from his father and forefathers, the inherited might of his lineage—is called ‘inborn strength’ (abhijāta); it is remembered as the fourth kind of strength.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura classifies ‘inborn, ancestral strength’—the power one possesses by birth and lineage—as a distinct category of strength, reminding a ruler to account for inherited advantages and their ethical use in governance and decision-making.
In Vidura’s counsel to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra during the Udyoga Parva, he is analyzing different sources of power/strength relevant to statecraft and impending conflict, here identifying the fourth as the innate, hereditary strength coming from one’s paternal and ancestral line.