Shloka 5
Vidura-nīti: Atithi-dharma, Trust, Counsel-Secrecy, and Traits of Sustainable Rule
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 38
उक्त मया जातमात्रेडपि राजन् दुर्योधन त्यज पुत्र त्वमेकम् । तस्य त्यागात् पुत्रशतस्य वृद्धि- रस्यात्यागात् पुत्रशतस्यथ नाश:
uktaṃ mayā jātamātre ’pi rājan duryodhana tyaja putra tvam ekam | tasya tyāgāt putraśatasya vṛddhir asyātyāgāt putraśatasya atha nāśaḥ ||
Vidura said: “O King, I told you even at the very moment of Duryodhana’s birth—abandon this one son. By giving him up, your hundred sons would prosper; but by refusing to give him up, those hundred sons will meet destruction.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura teaches that a ruler must place dharma and the welfare of the many above personal attachment. Tolerating a single destructive influence out of favoritism can bring ruin upon an entire lineage; timely renunciation of adharma preserves the greater good.
In Udyoga Parva, Vidura counsels King Dhṛtarāṣṭra during the escalating conflict with the Pāṇḍavas. He recalls an earlier warning given at Duryodhana’s birth: if the king had abandoned that one son, the rest would have prospered; by keeping him, the king set the stage for the Kauravas’ collective downfall.