Shloka 1
Vidura-nīti: Atithi-dharma, Trust, Counsel-Secrecy, and Traits of Sustainable Rule
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 38
पम्प बछ। अर: - मिट्टी और गोबरको मिलाकर कच्चे घरोंको जो लीपा-पोता जाता है
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | anīśvaro 'yaṃ puruṣo bhavābhave sūtra-protaḥ dāru-mayīva yoṣā | dhātrā tu diṣṭasya vaśe kṛto 'yaṃ tasmād vada tvaṃ śravaṇe dhṛto 'ham ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Vidura, this man is not independent in either prosperity or ruin. Like a wooden puppet strung on a thread, the Creator has bound him under the control of what has been allotted as destiny. Therefore, speak on—I am seated, steady and ready to listen.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames human life as constrained by what is ‘allotted’ (diṣṭa), comparing a person to a puppet moved by an external ordainer. Ethically, it sets the stage for Vidura’s nīti: even if destiny is invoked, a ruler must still hear counsel and act with discernment rather than using fate as an excuse for adharma.
At the opening of this section of Vidura’s counsel, Dhṛtarāṣṭra addresses Vidura and invites him to speak. He expresses a deterministic view—humans are not independent in success or failure—and then declares his readiness to listen, introducing the forthcoming moral and political instruction.