Shloka 59
Vidura-nīti: Atithi-dharma, Trust, Counsel-Secrecy, and Traits of Sustainable Rule
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 38
क्षमेदशक्त: सर्वस्य शक्तिमान् धर्मकारणात् | अर्थानर्थों समौ यस्य तस्य नित्यं क्षमा हिता
kṣamed aśaktaḥ sarvasya śaktimān dharmakāraṇāt | arthānarthau samau yasya tasya nityaṃ kṣamā hitā ||
Vidura teaches that forgiveness is beneficial in every station of life: the powerless must naturally endure and forgive all, yet even the powerful should choose forgiveness for the sake of dharma. For one whose vision is even—who regards gain and loss, advantage and harm as alike—for such a person, forgiveness is always wholesome and conducive to the good.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Forgiveness (kṣamā) is universally beneficial: the weak may forgive out of necessity, but the strong should forgive deliberately for the sake of dharma; the truly wise, seeing gain and harm as equal, find forgiveness always salutary.
In Udyoga Parva, Vidura is offering moral and political counsel in the tense lead-up to war, urging a dharmic response—restraint and forgiveness—rather than retaliation, even when one has the power to punish.