Shloka 64
Vidura-nīti: Atithi-dharma, Trust, Counsel-Secrecy, and Traits of Sustainable Rule
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 38
न चातिगुणवत्स्वेषा नात्यन्तं निर्गुणेषु च । नैषा गुणाम् कामयते नैर्गुण्यान्नानुरज्यते । उन्मत्ता गौरिवान्धा श्री: क्वचिदेवावतिष्ठते,लक्ष्मी न तो अत्यन्त गुणवानोंके पास रहती है और न बहुत निर्मुणोंक पास। यह न तो बहुत-से गुणोंको चाहती है और न गुणहीनताके प्रति ही अनुराग रखती है। उन्मत्त गौकी भाँति यह अन्धी लक्ष्मी कहीं-कहीं ही ठहरती है
na cātiguṇavatsveṣā nātyantaṃ nirguṇeṣu ca | naiṣā guṇān kāmayate nairguṇyān nānurajyate | unmattā gaur ivāndhā śrīḥ kvacid evāvatiṣṭhate ||
Vidura says: Prosperity (Śrī/Lakṣmī) does not stay only with the exceedingly virtuous, nor does she settle forever among the utterly meritless. She neither deliberately seeks a multitude of virtues nor clings to sheer lack of virtue. Like a mad, blind cow, this Lakṣmī comes to rest only here and there—unpredictably. Therefore worldly success is no sure measure of dharma; do not equate fortune with moral worth, nor despair when the unrighteous seem to prosper.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Wealth and success are unstable and do not consistently align with virtue or vice; therefore dharma should be pursued for its own sake, without judging righteousness by outward prosperity.
In Udyoga Parva, Vidura offers counsel and moral instruction during the tense pre-war negotiations; here he explains the fickle nature of Śrī/Lakṣmī to correct mistaken assumptions about who deserves prosperity.