Shloka 69
Vidura-nīti: Atithi-dharma, Trust, Counsel-Secrecy, and Traits of Sustainable Rule
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 38
तपो बलं तापसानां ब्रह्म ब्रह्म॒विदां बलम् । हिंसा बलमसाधूनां क्षमा गुणवतां बलम्,तपस्वियोंका बल है तप, वेदवेत्ताओंका बल है वेद, पापियोंका बल है हिंसा और गुणवानोंका बल है क्षमा
tapo balaṁ tāpasānāṁ brahma brahmavidāṁ balam | hiṁsā balam asādhūnāṁ kṣamā guṇavatāṁ balam ||
Vidura teaches that each kind of person draws strength from what they most cultivate: ascetics from austerity (tapas), knowers of Brahman and the Veda from sacred knowledge, the wicked from violence (hiṁsā), and the virtuous from kṣamā—patient restraint and forgiveness.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True strength is not one thing for all; it matches one’s character and discipline. Ascetics are empowered by tapas, the wise by sacred knowledge, the wicked by violence, but the genuinely virtuous by kṣamā—restraint and forgiveness—presented as the highest ethical power for sustaining dharma.
In the Udyoga Parva’s negotiations and counsel before the great war, Vidura advises the Kuru court (especially Dhṛtarāṣṭra) on righteous conduct. This verse is part of his moral instruction, contrasting destructive power (hiṁsā) with the stabilizing power of virtue (kṣamā) amid escalating conflict.