Shloka 46
उद्योगपर्व — विदुरनीतिः (Adhyāya 37): आयुःक्षयहेतवः, नीतिसूत्राणि, बलभेदाः, पाण्डव-विग्रहदोषदर्शनम्
हित्वा तान् परमेष्वासान् पाण्डवानमितौजस: । आहितं भारतैश्वर्य त्वया दुर्योधने महत्,भारत! आपने उन महान् धनुर्धर और अत्यन्त तेजस्वी पाण्डवोंको छोड़कर यह महान् ऐश्वर्यका भार दुर्योधनके ऊपर रख दिया है
hitvā tān parameṣvāsān pāṇḍavān amitaujasaḥ | āhitaṃ bhārat-aiśvaryaṃ tvayā duryodhane mahat, bhārata |
Vidura says: “Abandoning those Pandavas—supreme archers of immeasurable prowess—you have placed the great burden of Bharata sovereignty upon Duryodhana, O Bhārata. By setting aside the truly capable and righteous claimants, you have shifted the weight of kingship onto one whose choices endanger the realm’s moral order.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Rulership is a moral burden that should rest on the most capable and dharmic heirs; favoritism that ignores merit and righteousness transfers the kingdom’s weight to unfit hands and invites ruin for the polity.
In Vidura’s counsel to Dhṛtarāṣṭra during the Udyoga Parva, he rebukes the king for sidelining the powerful Pandavas and effectively entrusting the empire’s fate to Duryodhana, warning of the ethical and political consequences.